Sink into fitness with a swim spa

Enjoy a long swim or add accessories like a rowing kit or a stationary bike for more fitness options.

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One of today’s most popular home streaming devices provides countless hours of enjoyment with no screen required.

With soothing warm water, a 5,000 gallon a minute current and physical bandwidth of up to 24 feet, anyone can binge on exercise, therapy or relaxation in a swim spa.

“Swim spas have been pretty popular, especially in the last three years since COVID-19. We’re selling about 50 per cent more that we used to. People want that luxury item in their backyard so they don’t have to go to a pool or a public space,” says Tyson Windle, general manager of Sun Spa in southeast Calgary.

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Swim spas are more versatile than hot tubs and cost significantly less to install, heat or chemically treat than an outdoor pool. They can be powered by jets or by propulsion depending on the type of resistance desired, tolerance for bubbles and noise and whether the swimmer wants to be tethered or not.

They can be submerged in the ground, like a swimming pool, or built into a deck. Half of Windle’s customers put their swim spa outdoors while the rest build a special all-season enclosure or install them in their home. No matter the placement, a level concrete pad with a two-foot clearance around all sides must be in place to support the spa.

“The weight of a 19-foot spa is 22,000 to 23,000 pounds. You have to have a least a four-inch concrete pad, but it depends on the size,” he says.

Swim spa lengths range from 12 feet to 24 feet in length, with a starting price around $20,000. For bigger swim spas with more jets and added accessories, that price can shoot up. Add a rowing kit for a full body workout, a stationary bike or an underwater treadmill, then top it off with a remote control pool cover and the price can be closer to $77,000.

“Fitness accessories are extremely popular. People are more buoyant in the water so resistance training or aerobic therapy in a pool helps with exercise or for some, to gain back some mobility,” Windle says.

Swim spas have been available for 40 years and the equipment just keeps improving. Smart technology has reached the spa world where the temperature and water quality can be monitored from anywhere in the world. Trevor Vickery, a sales associate with Paradise Bay in Calgary, says you can be lying on the beach while checking in with your spa.

“If you’re on holiday in the winter, maybe leaving Cancun airport and you want to make sure your spa or hot tub is nice and hot when you get home, you can adjust the temperature with your phone or iPad,” he says.

Paradise Bay is an Arctic Spa deal, an Alberta-based manufacturer that has taken technology a step further by programming the app to automatically inject chlorine into your pool so it will be perfectly treated even if you’re away for two or three months. A swim spa could add $1,000 a year to the electric bill, based on someone using it outside every day for 30 minutes and good insulation. Insulation for Alberta’s climate is crucial, says Vickery.

“Some U.S. manufacturers will spray foam the inner cabinet of the tub, while manufacturers like Arctic Spa insulates the floor, outer walls and upper lip to create hot box,” he says. “We trap the heat in and get free heat from the pump to keep that water nice and warm.”

As additional insurance, choose a spa made of composite materials with a steel frame rather than foam and wood for a shelf life of more than 10 years.

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