YMCA or Cary St. gym—better evening swimming experience?

Submitted by kwisque t3_z4kg5l in rva

Looking to join a gym with lap lanes (and hopefully a hot tub) for swimming after work. I’m downtown so think the Franklin St. Y or Cary St. VCU gym are my best options, but figure they might both be really crowded 5-7. Also not sure which pool is generally nicer? Any input would be appreciated. Also any plug for a different spot if I’m missing out on something good.

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yentle-the-nimble t1_ixrjba8 wrote

It’s been a couple of years, but the VCU Cary St gym had a much better pool than the YMCA on Franklin (if those are the ones you’re talking about). I joined for the swimming, as well. I think Cary St occasionally had some classes that took up a majority of the lanes, but the YMCA gym had a smaller pool.

I’m not sure if membership to the VCU gym is limited to students and faculty.

You should check them out, though. My preference was for Cary St.

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___zero__cool___ t1_ixrlo3t wrote

> I’m not sure if membership to the VCU gym is limited to students and faculty.

It’s not, it’s just $10-$15/mo more expensive as a member of the public I think.

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RVAMS t1_ixrs9e5 wrote

I can confirm this there is a community membership that costs a bit more but I think it’s very worth it. I shoot hoops as a warmup, do spin classes and use the power racks several times a week. Worth every penny. Everything you need really. As I lose more weight they even have a rock wall I am interested in messing around on. I can’t recommend the gym enough, but I also go at like 6am when there’s basically nobody there so it might get really busy during the peak hours.

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kwisque OP t1_ixrlkgg wrote

Thanks! Yeah, I’m talking about the Franklin St. YMCA, edited to clarify. My understanding is that the VCU gym on Cary is open to “community” memberships for a higher price.

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RVAMS t1_ixrscmd wrote

Yeah I’m a member and have no affiliation to the school and you just pay the community price. It’s worth it imo. I go at 6am and the pools usually have like 1-2 people in them. Prob more busy in the evening. I know they have tennis court signups to reserve them, they might have the same for lanes?

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kwisque OP t1_ixryhz6 wrote

Thanks for the info!

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RVAMS t1_ixrzwoy wrote

No problem! I did a single month membership before I joined to make sure I liked it, and then signed up for the year, which gives a discount over the monthly. I can’t recommend it enough. Place is super clean and they have classes baked into the cost of membership. Best gym I’ve been to by a longshot.

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kittens856 t1_ixsfynm wrote

The jcc has a salt pool

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SwanOverSunshine t1_ixt2j4y wrote

I would go with the YMCA. The VCU pool often has classes and other things booked around the time you would be swimming so may be hard to get a lane. With the YMCA, you can swim at other pools too - I especially like the Frank Thornton center in northside, it’s really not that far from downtown. Parking is expensive around the VCU gym too - if you’re driving, you have to factor in about $2.50 parking per visit, so that raises the price a fair bit.

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muddyhands78 t1_ixstpe7 wrote

Can confirm what others have said - Cary Street pool is much nicer and bigger than the Franklin Street pool. I was a morning swimmer at VCU (also had no affiliation, just lived nearby) so can't speak to evening crowds but you'd probably be ok on the later side. The one benefit of the Y is that you can go to nicer pools at other branches (north Richmond Y's pool is great and just refurbished) but Cary Street is the best in the downtown area. With community membership at VCU you can also access the MCV pool which is much less busy but has crappy hours.

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Horsecon t1_ixuo4zt wrote

How are the gym + amenities at the VCU gym compared to the Franklin YMCA? I go to the YMCA and the gym is a little underwhelming, but I enjoy the occasional sauna visit as well as using their table tennis room and basketball courts. Pics of the VCU gym make it seem wayyyy nicer...

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jc_1116_ t1_iy259sa wrote

I swim 3x a week at 5:30-7ish PM at Cary St. I rarely have to share a lane.

I prev went to Downtown Y and JCC and at both, you have to book a lane. Not worth it.

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SwanOverSunshine t1_iy6yxog wrote

You must have better luck than me - I kept running into paddle board yoga, log rolling, swim club in the main pool, and then had to go swim in the shallow pool where there aren’t real lanes, so you’re dodging people just hanging out in the pool.

Edit: at the Vcu pool

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jc_1116_ t1_iy89ctn wrote

Shallow pool is the worst, sorry you’ve had bad luck. I’ve found the 5-7pm window to be clear of all that stuff. They post their schedule online and usually stick to it.

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