Recently we have scoured the internet for the weirdest, funnest and downright most mind-boggling pool links the internet has to offer. You ready? I’m ready. Let’s go!

A Pool Rising to the Occasion

This pool owner obviously did not read Charlie’s blog on preparing your pool for storms. Wow! This inground pool in Pasco County Florida became an above ground pool in the timespan of a day when the Tampa Bay area experienced torrential downpours and flooding. That’s faster than most general contractors could do it. Good job, Mother Nature. This pool pop is caused by a rising water table lifting the empty (and significantly lighter) pool basin out of the ground.

What is the lesson learned from this link? Do not drain your pool before a big storm. See WFLA.com for full story…

 

Cuban Pete Kid

This kid understands what pool life is all about: FUN. We find our little ChaCha master at a public pool when his favorite jam comes on and we will let his hips tell you the rest.

Rio De Ja-Nasty

And moving on to the “ewww” portion of the links, we visit the home of the 2016 Summer Olympics, Rio de Janeiro. Conditions at the Games’ water sport venues are murky at best, leaving athletes with literal and figurative knots in their stomachs. The Associated Press released a report on Rio de Janeiro’s water supply that shows the dangerous level of human feces and bacteria polluting the sport venues. The Games are less than a year away meaning athletes are already on site practising in the venues with the contaminated water and some have already experienced bouts of respiratory and digestive (the trots) illnesses. Link to Associated Press story by Brad Brooks and Jenny Barchfield.

Should the Olympics be moved if Rio’s organizers cannot get their water chemistry in order? Better yet, should they call Inyo Pools to come fix the issue, thereby getting me a free trip to Brazil? The answer is a resounding, “YES!”

Huge Water Slide

Can a water slide be too long? Action Park in Vernon, New Jersey attempts to answer that question. This video shows a first-hand view of the thrilling 2,000-foot ride. A slide that long is at the same time unnecessary, and yet, very awesome. Take a look…

“Everything is Bigger in Texas”

Well, New Jersey, we see your 2000-foot slide and Texas raises you the world’s largest residential pool. Whatcha got now?

In El Campo, Texas pool designer Cheryl Kuykendall created the Spruce Goose of pools by constructing the “40,000-square-foot main pool (filled with 750,000 gallons of water), six waterfalls, a 21-foot slide, a 500-foot lazy river, a bar, an outdoor kitchen, a kiddie area, and more.”

For comparison, an Olympic-sized swimming pool only contains 660,000 gallons of water. No word on if Rio de Janeiro has reached out to this pool’s owner to switch rowing competitions to their backyard. Here’s a Look at the Largest Residential Pool in the World

A Grizzly Sight

Silly bear, there’s no salmon in that pool.

This video is new nightmare fuel for me. Serious question, what is more terrifying a shark in the ocean or a bear in an above ground pool? My answer is the bear, because if I hop out of the ocean, the shark cannot grow feet to chase me unlike our friend Bruiser, here.

Not Recent, but Still Cool…

The 1992 Barcelona Olympics gave us some great moments, for example the original Dream Team and the great gymnastic duel between Tatiana Gustu and the USA’s Shannon Miller. But the highlight for pool geeks was the stunning backdrop of Barcelona during the diving competitions at Piscina Municipal de Montjuïc. As each diver poised for his/her next heave into the abyss, the tv audience drank in the breathtaking view of the Sagrada Família.

The diving venue is still open for competitions and athlete practices till this day. The London newspaper, The Guardian, did a video piece in 2012 featuring the 20 year anniversary of the Barcelona Games centering on the Piscina Municipal de Montjuïc. Take a look. Dive into Barcelona’s Olympic swimming pool – Video, via The Guardian

Thank you for reading and if you have any links worth sharing feel free to add them in the comments down below.