Take the Plunge: New Spas Can Put You in the Swim

Denise Adamy doesn’t swim at a gym or even in her backyard. She swims in her garage.

The 43-year-old mother lives in Wasilla, Alaska, where it was 5 degrees below zero in February. Adamy has Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, wears leg braces and walks with a cane. She swims and does aquatic exercises four times a week in a swim spa housed in her garage.

"I can’t think of a better way to exercise for anyone who is handicapped," Adamy said. "I love my pool."

Swim spas can be installed outdoors or indoors.

Swim spas — also called counter-current pools or therapy pools — allow people with a variety of abilities to swim in place. Carl R. Meyer of Rio SwimSpas in Brownsville, Texas, who’s known for his innovative swim spa designs, said, "I describe it as the marriage of a swimming pool and a spa."

Suit yourself

A swim spa is a pint-sized pool with many of the features found in a whirlpool spa. Water is circulated through jets, propellers or paddlewheels.

Swim spas come in varying sizes — typically 6 to 8 feet wide and 14 to 19 feet long. The depth ranges from 3 to 5 feet, and some units can be customized to greater depths for people who do aquatic exercises. Dual swim spas, with separate spa and pool areas, are longer.

A swim spa’s water temperature can be adjusted to provide therapeutic warm water for relaxing the muscles or cooler water for more vigorous workouts.

Adamy researched the market for years before choosing an Endless Pool. The unit can move up to 5,000 gallons of water every 2 minutes through grills that straighten and smooth the water’s flow.

The result is an adjustable, riverlike current that, with a turn of a knob, can flow gently or be intensified to a racer’s pace. Adamy’s swim spa is also 19 inches deeper than the standard model so she can do aquatic exercises in it.

Swim spas let users swim or enjoy warm water therapy. Photos by Rio SwimSpas and Dimension One Spas

Get moving

Warm water therapy is especially good for people with neuromuscular diseases.

"Aquatic exercise enables a three-dimensional environment," said Julia Meno-Fettig, a certified therapeutic recreation specialist (CTRS) and a national speaker for the Aquatic Therapy & Rehab Institute. "People leave their wheelchair, prosthetic, cane or crutches behind and have freedom of movement in the water. They can float on their backs, roll, and get into positions that they are unable to duplicate on land."

Activities in warm water (hydrotherapy) give a person greater range-of-motion and help to relax muscles. Hydrotherapy also can help to increase circulation and reduce leg swelling.

Moving around in water, if your doctor advises this, may even help increase lung capacity.

Because the buoyant nature of water supports the body, water therapy maximizes a person’s abilities. Meno-Fettig has worked with parents who don’t know the extent of their disabled children’s abilities.

For example, when Meno-Fettig tells young "Joey" he’s going to snorkel, his mother says, "He can’t do that." Joey successfully snorkels, and his mother’s view of him is changed.

"Water’s greatest gifts are independence, building confidence and increasing mobility," Meno-Fettig said.

Everybody's doing it

"Spas are a growing market. They are great for therapy and stress relief. With the aging baby boomers, we anticipate the trend will continue," said Suzanne Barrows, a spokesperson for the Association of Pool & Spa Professionals.

A swim spa at home also offers 24-hour-a-day convenience, year-round use and privacy. It can fit in a smaller space than a traditional pool, and requires a lower heating cost, easier maintenance and fewer chemicals.

NOTE: Consult with your physician before beginning a program of hydrotherapy or any other exercise. It’s important to know how much time it’s advisable for you to spend exercising or using a spa, and to have someone with you at all times.