I have recently been learning how to swim at Wings Over Water in Fairfield - a bit later in life than most - and needed to find a pool that had an open swim after work so that I could practice.
First impressions were lackluster at best. The women's lockers were old and worn and felt unclean. There were plastic lawn chairs in each of the showers with brown stains from rust or goodness knows what else. The changing rooms were just cubicles with curtains.
The one time I went, there was a camp letting out. The 30+ girls in this camp were being chaperoned by three clueless teenagers. Glass was broken, children ran around bothering other patrons, and these chaperones just sort of stood close together at the door. Kids are going to be kids, and I'm not faulting them - but there was no adult supervision. Full disclosure: I'm not sure whether or not this group was part of the Y or part of an outside camp.
The pool itself was so chlorinated that my eyes watered through my goggles before I even got in the water. It was brutal, but I was grateful for it as clumps of hair and a used bandaid floated by. I only lasted about 30 minutes before I had to leave.
Because of the gender separation of locker rooms (adding doors to the changing room would solve the need for this!), mothers with boys felt more comfortable bringing them into the women's lockers instead of letting them in the men's. I totally understand this, but I feel less comfortable with a bunch of boys running about with just curtains as dividers in the changing rooms!
I'm a fool for not checking this out before signing up - and even more of a fool because, at the YMCA, you have to pay an extra month after you cancel. I signed up and paid and visited that first time in July, paid for August, and will now have to pay for September. To cancel, one must go to the facility and fill out a form. (Please note: information about how to cancel and the extra month membership fee came from a different YMCA location. Fairfield and its parent Y group does not seem to have this information on the website at all, though I may have missed it. I will amend this review if I find out otherwise when I attempt to cancel.)
Please don't make my mistake and get locked in to something gross and uncomfortable; this location may have other redeeming qualities, but I just wanted a nice pool to swim in after work, and there was nothing nice about swimming in the pool at the Y. read more