Spend spring break enjoying MHCC’s Aquatic Center

Thank the Lord! The hot tub is open every day during spring break, only a week away.

Seriously – a good activity to combat your boredom would be to visit the MHCC Aquatic Center. The pool and hot tub there are free for Mt. Hood students with a current term sticker (winter term, in this case) on the back of their student ID.

The only students taking advantage of the free hot tub is on the men’s track team, according to Donna Ryan, aquatics program coordinator.

As for the swimming pool, Mt. Hood has “the biggest competition facility in Oregon,” she said. Each year the center hosts “some 30 swim competitions,” she said. Yet, there is room for everyone, from novice to Olympic-level swimmers, in its three pools.

In fact, the center has hosted Missy Franklin, a four-time Olympic gold medalist. Usually, it hosts children’s swimming lessons, adult exercises, and open recreation swimming. Its pool stays open year-round, but the protective dome over the outdoor lanes doesn’t come down until April. After that, users can swim under the sun, or inside.

The pool serves well over 100,000 people a year, said Ryan. During summer, the center hosts a number of swim and water polo team events, along with children’s birthday parties. But “that’s not where the fun ends,” she said. Built in 1993, the Aquatic Center’s rock wall has recently been refurbished. Students need pay only $4 to begin their ascent. Accommodating a wide range of climbing, the formal Mt. Hood Rock Wall class can make for an enjoyable workout, building upper and lower body strength along with toughening one’s grip.

The Aquatics Center hires both student and part-time hourly employees, about 50 total, to provide lifeguards for every event it hosts, said Ryan.

Two weeks ago, the 2015 Oregon/Region XII Speedo Senior Championships was the last big event scheduled for a while. Mt. Hood students now have until June to get all of their swimming and hot tub use out of their system, without being nosed out.

After another big June event, the MHCC pools will be “busier then ever,” said Ryan. She urged students to make use of, or simply enjoy, the pools and rock wall while the sun is out.