Sometimes, pool designers and builders need a gentle reminder of what it’s all about: swimmers.
World-class athletes and accomplished swim coaches were front and center at the first Ultimate Pool Conference. The three-day event in Charlotte, N.C., attracted a varied mix of pool professionals to discuss how to make swimming pools better for the people who use them.
The January conference was sponsored by equipment manufacturer Paddock Pool Equipment, but CEO Don Baker insisted this was not a Paddock event. Instead, it was a forum for more than 120 builders, designers and suppliers — some of them fierce competitors — to share ideas on how to raise the bar for the pool industry as a whole. Topics included chemicals, air quality, construction, design and programming.
“We had 120 guys spilling their guts, sharing their secrets,” Baker said.
The Ultimate Pool Conference kicked off with a dinner that brought city officials and local business owners together, alongside industry members, to learn about Charlotte’s rich swimming history and to drum up support for SwimMAC, the city’s decorated swim club. It is raising funds to send its elite athletes to Tokyo for the Summer Olympics in 2020.
During the event, Baker himself donated $10,000 toward the cause via Dreamfuel, a sports-oriented crowdfunding platform. It was the largest donation in Dreamfuel’s history, said co-founder Emily White.
“We at Dreamfuel fund athletes and teams, but in swimming we are nothing without pools,” White said. “Thus, I’m thrilled that Don and Paddock do what they do to bring the industry together in a way that touches us all.”
Baker has a personal connection with SwimMAC: His father, Bill Baker, gave the club its very own competition pool in 1990. Don Baker built it himself.
The event also included a field trip to the new YMCA in Clover, S.C., which is said to have the largest aquatics facility in the organization’s network — this in a town of just 6,000 people. Baker showcased it as a publicly funded project that could be emulated.
“I took that story to this group of designers, builders and vendors and said ‘Hey, you can do this anywhere in the country,’” Baker said.
