By DOUG DYER, Sports Editor
ddyer@williamsonherald.com

Recreational organizations always are looking for the latest and greatest way to keep patrons interested and making plenty of return trips to their respective facilities.

The Franklin Family YMCA has taken steps to add a new dimension to its outdoor pool, installing an AquaClimb Wall in the deepest part of the pool to provide a new type of activity for swimmers both young and old.

“We’re excited to add the AquaClimb wall to our outdoor pool, as a fun and active way to help children and adults become healthier and stronger,” Franklin YMCA Executive Director Kenny Alonzo said.

Put into use Thursday, the new AquaClimb structure was dedicated Friday with a grand opening ceremony featuring special guests that included Chris Sanders, former wide receiver for the Tennessee Titans.

The wall is composed of 12 panels each measuring one square meter, arranged into a four panels wide by three panels high shape. The setup allows up to two climbers at a time on the wall.

The AquaClimb wall is a fitness activity for all ages offering the unique challenge of trying to climb the wall without falling into the water below. The wall is installed at a 10-degree angle over the water, which ensures safety and increases difficulty as climbers reach the top.

The panels also can be rearranged to provide a different climbing pattern, Alonzo said, and there is a chance the Y could add another level of panels before next summer to add another degree of difficulty.

“If we’re gonna do that, we would wait a year so it would be something fresh again,” he said.

AquaClimb is  manufactured by Pyramide USA Inc., a leading sport climbing wall designer with more than 3,000 commercial installations worldwide. Led by president and CEO Russell Moy, Pyramide USA, with its sister company Pyramide France, has been designing and manufacturing climbing walls since 1986.

“The AquaClimb is an exciting new water activity for young and old,” Moy said. “We’re confident that Franklin Family YMCA climbers will rise to the challenge of scrambling up the wall and making spectacular splashes back in to the pool.”

In just a few days of use, Alonzo already can see the benefits of having a new feature for the deep end of the pool.

“People have been all over it,” he said. “We consistently have 10 to 15 kids lined up to use it. We’ve asked some of the kids what they thought, and they all said it was pretty difficult to scale the wall. Hopefully because of that, the novelty of it won’t wear off anytime soon.”

With this project completed and in use for the remainder of the pool season, next up is the installation of a new children’s indoor play area over the next month, Alonzo said. The facility already has acquired the materials for the structure but the challenge now is to find adequate space in which to place it.

Over the next few weeks officials will attempt to relocate some offices and maximize space in order to install the play area in time for the end of the pool season, tentatively around the beginning of September, Alonzo said. 

Posted on: 7/16/2006