Burlington Beauties: Nelson (#799) & Mountainside (#607) LCM Pools

7 June 2026

I first swam at Burlington's renovated Mountainside Pool (#607) just about three weeks after the multi-million dollar revamp was finished (ribbon cutting was June 30th, 2023) and absolutely loved the three long course lanes, but it was more fun and special to go there this June with Monica, about a week after her wedding and the last full day I had in Ontario this year:

My wife and I had started considering Burlington as a future long-term hometown back during the waning days of the pandemic (summer '22), after we had stopped into its lovely downtown core for dinner one weekend driving back from the Shaw Festival. My second experience was when I squeezed that swim in July 2023 before interviewing a local candidate at a quaint coffee shop near the lakefront ... which strengthened my interest in the city.

What I didn't quite realize in 2023, and not until Monica later moved up to Burlington from Hamilton later on, is that the City of Burlington has an even better long course, outdoor pool, Nelson Pool, an eight lane 50-meter pool with generous morning lap swimming times:

I came here on June 6th to make this pool #799 and fell in love that much more with the city. I also loved the murals on the interior walls near the locker room, the butterfly version which I think perfectly captures the special pain of that stroke!

I think I'll certainly be a happy summer swimmer whenever we move here ... and with some local efforts to get an indoor, 50-meter facility constructed, it might be a perfect year-round training ground.