Richard Alatorre Pool

incredible in-​door facility with great staff! the pool itself has a diving board and ranged from 2−3ft to 12ft near the diving board. behind the diving board you will find bleachers to sit down to either relax from a swim or if you’re a parent… watch your kids enjoy their day at the pool :)

Until I get my own pool, this is mine and my daughters hang out for the summer. The pool is clean and the staff is cool.

the pool water is cold

I thought I found THE pool! when i first started coming here in janurary it was lovely! Really clean pool and heated pool, love coming here. They even let the door down low so it’s not too windy.
But as the weather get warmer, they don’t keep the pool consistent in temperature anymore. Many times it’s too cold even after swimming for a while. And because here are more people but im not sure if they didn’t keep up the cleaning or what, side of the wall started turning green…

ADULT LAP SWIMMING REVIEW ONLY
My pool was shut down for two weeks so I ventured over to this one. Came during winter adult lap swim (12:30−2p) T-​F.
There are 3 lanes, but people can open swim laps (without lanes) in the shallow or deep sides of the pool… Wasn’t busy at all. At most, 5 – 8 people in the pool… A lot of older people, but no swimmers were there that were intimidating. So it’s a nice, relaxed swim.
NO WORKING CLOCK in pool area, though.
Front desk staff was incredibly nice… No ‘lockers’ but they give you a ticket to ‘check’ your stuff. They advise you MUST take a shower before you get in the pool.
Locker room is ‘eh…’ but not disgusting… If you’re the kind of person who pulls a tiny piece of hair out of your food and continues to eat. you’ll be fine… If you throw a fit, call a manager and say you’ll never eat at that place again… then don’t come here (no they don’t serve food… this is a metaphor)
Parking is good… I was never here any time other than WINTER and during Adult Lap Swim ONLY… so I can’t review what it’s like when kids are there… or when it is busy. or the weekend…
But if you go when I go, it’s most definitely a hidden gem!

Considering the location, this place is surprisingly clean/​safe-​feeling/​large/​new. The hours are great, the staff are friendly, parking is never a problem — and they offer a locker service (upon entry, you trade your ticket and belongings in at the window for a metal safety pin), showers, and changing stalls. Prices are good too — $ 2.00 with your LA library card.
The pool itself is kept at a great temperature: between 78 – 80 degrees. And there are hand paddles, kickboards, and pull buoys available for use.
I only wish less people knew about this place. On a hot afternoon, there are so many children… So, so many children. I mostly come for lap swim, so it’s not that big of an issue for me, personally. But for trying to teach adult beginners how to swim during recreational hours — it can be a bit challenging, and I’m sure, embarrassing.

The Richard Alatorre Pool is a hidden gem. It is located in the El Sereno Recreation Center. The pool is indoors. The pool is a 25 yard swimming pool with 12 lanes. The pool ranges in depth from 3 feet at the shallow end to 12 feet deep by the diving board. The pool is kept to a cool temperature of about 80 degrees.
The pool is open for lap swimming Monday — Friday from from 12:30 PM to 8 PM. On Saturday & Sunday, lap swimming is available from 1 PM to 5 PM.
It costs $ 2 to swim here if you have a library card. If you are like me, without a library card, you will have to pay $ 2.50. Seniors over 65 and children under 17 are free. They have a bag check where the attendant can look after your stuff while you swim.
Kick boards, Pull buoys and fins are available if you want extra punishment for your workout.
The pool is great for lap swimming. The manager, Ivan Rodriguez, is new to this facility. He told me that he recently decided to lower the temperature of the water to 80 degrees, perfect for lap swimming. The pool is is a fast pool. I was able to swim my laps about a two seconds faster than normal. I came at lunchtime, there were a few other people at the time. I had my own lane without distractions. No fast swimmers here to push you. They do require you to shower first. It is a good policy, but, showering without soap makes you jump in the pool with wet germs, instead of dry germs.
The locker room looks like what you would find in jail (not that I would know). There were no lockers. The require you to limit your showers to 5 minutes. They have what appears to be portable benches with a red racks to hang your bag on. If you bring something valuable, you should give it to the bag attendant. The showers are very institutional. You push a button for the water. It takes about 10 seconds for the warm water to come out. The shower head gives a big and fine spray pattern. My shower took longer than normal because the water coming out was too fine and would not rinse off all the soap.
Overall, this is a nice pool. Depending on what time you come, you may be able to swim in your own lane. If in the area, I would be back.

Today, my friend and I visited this aquatic center.
Good: –17 and under has free admission during free swim
–adults 2.50 with library card 2.00 w/​o
–it’s indoor
Here’s when the horror comes in. It’s disappointing that the public swimming area is limited. We only had the choice of swimming in the 3 feet area or the 12 feet area. It was fine, but we found a centipede on the pool floor. We almost stepped on it. We did not even stay for an hour because of it. We noticed the pool was molding and was slightly green. Afterwards, our skin felt itchy and smelled like sewer water. The lifeguards were rude and were indifferent toward the centipede. My face burned and stung for a couple minutes after.

I don’t know why it has so good reviews, but I must admit this was the first indoor pool I visited here, since I live in L.A. So I assume the others must be even worse. I come from Germany and pools obviously are much different, also do I have problems with these recreation times, I was used that pools are open from like 6am to 10pm for everyone without any separation and much nicer for kids with slides, smaller, warmer kids and baby pools, food area etc. These times make it almost impossible to just spend family time swimming together for people with different working shifts and weekend work. So back to this pool, it all looks old and when we got in, we were very confused because the alarm siren was on, loud like hell and blinking all over the place. And it also wouldn’t stop the entire time we spent in this pool, we were almost deaf at the end and they didn’t even apologize for it. Another thing that was annoying is the fact that for kids it is just boring, lap swimmers everywhere and you always have to watch out. Also was the pool cold and especially when we got out of the water almost froze to death, so I was looking forward to a «hot shower»! I couldn’t believe what expected me then, the shower were just cold, it was impossible for me to shower there and so I just got dressed and took a 30 minute shower at home. And even though I did as well as my family, we were still smelling this chlorine on our bodies the next day! My son also had dark blue lips when we left this pool so cold was it!!! I’m pregnant and wanted to give this pool a try for some light workout during this time but I really need at least a shower at the end!!! I really wish I could say something different.

I was genuinely surprised by my experience here today. I live in the area and generally don’t think highly of the public services around here. In fact I usually travel all the way to Pasadena when I have time off to relax. I LOVE the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center. The only problem is the $ 10 drop-​in fee.
So I decided to try this place out. Somewhat reluctantly, but I’m a very open-​minded kind of guy and make it a point to try out places I haven’t been before.
The Bads:
1) It’s showing some age. I’m not sure if its mold I see in some areas, but it’s not sparkly new or clean like the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center.
2) The water isn’t salt water. It’s chlorine (and yes, I know salt water is chlorine, but let’s not get into that).
3) It’s pretty dark inside the main area so you don’t get a bright, cheery, energetic mood like an outdoor place (like…the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center).
4) Lap swimming is only open for like 3 hours most days and they’re not in the mornings, when I do most of my workouts.
5) It’s not a 50m length, I believe it’s 25m (not yards). Honestly, this is a minor issue for me.
The Goods:
1) The price is great. $ 2.50 for adults without a library card, $ 2.00 with library card.
2) They have a bag check.
3) The water is chlorine, but its not heavy like some horrible places. It surprised me how neutral the water felt.
4) The people who work here are great. VERY friendly and helpful. El Sereno isn’t the greatest neighborhood (not the worst), but I felt pretty darn welcomed here.
5) Not crowded. I came at 1:00pm on a Sunday and there were maybe 4 of us total.
So yeah, overall the «quality of my swim» was pretty darn good, almost as good as I get at RBC. The only real ding in stars comes from the need for a slight renovation. I saw a sign that says they’ll be doing an annual pool drain in January. Maybe they’ll be able to clean up some of the facilities and renovate a little, too.
One time I was behind Richard Alatorre in the supermarket line. True story.

I have been here a handful of times and really like this public pool. The hours are great, with designated lap swimming times and adult only periods. This helps to make the pool available to everyone and their own purposes. I like to swim laps and lane availability is not bad. It is a public pool, with dozens of people using it for recreation and classes. Padlocks not needed, because it is one of those check in a bag at the window systems. The people who run it all seem young, and all seem to be very nice. The people who use the pool, both young and old seem very nice also. I like that the pool is in a park, one side of the pool opens up above the baseball field providing air and a nice view. Parking is limited.

good place to swim kid are free plenty of space nice llifeguards gets a little full on weekends but overall great.5 stars

This location is good enough for lap swimming and great for children recreational water playing.
While it is relatively new in comparison to other City of LA pools, it is showing signs of poor maintenance and possible building design/​construction flaws. For example, there are visible chemical stains on the pool floor. Likewise, the paint on the ceiling is peeling in many areas most likely due to the corrosive nature of the chlorine gases that accumulate in an indoor pool with inadequate ventilation.
This was a beautiful pool when it first opened. Now they need to rev up the maintenance.

first off the neighborhood is el sereno not lincoln heights. only one diving board not two. pool closes for a month n a half during the winter time. like any city of la pool 2.50 to swim for adults, bring your la library card n pay just 2 bucks! kids 17 and under are free

Although this place has been opened for awhile, this pool is considered relatively new as opposed to other swimming pools in the vicinity (i.e. Lincoln Park’s swimming pool). It’s indoor = heated = open year-​around (except that with the budget cuts, I don’t think so anymore =()Since most of the clientele are younger kids and their parents, you can EASILY get your own lane to swim some laps. There are also 2 diving boards from what I remember as well. If you want to learn how to swim, they also have classes (group/​private sessions) too! Try this place out! Free for minors/​seniors/​people with disabilities and if you’re an adult and you have a library card, it’s $ 2 as opposed to $ 2.50. It pays to be a library patron! I feel like I’m promoting this swimming pool and I don’t even have any affiliation with it. –_-”