Okay, we know… you live in Scottsdale, Arizona — land of triple digit temperatures and chances are you wouldn’t think of a swimming pool heater, right? The swimming pool contractors from SwimRight Pool Service & Repair get it. They do find the history of heated swimming pools interesting though.

If you ever thought that heating swimming pool water was something recent — think again. Swimming pools featured heated water as far back as Ancient Rome. In that era the swimming pools were built on tall pillars that left space open underneath for a chamber. In this chamber was space for fires to be built and stoked to keep the royalty comfortable as they swam in the elevated swimming pool.

When you consider how labor intensive that was you can appreciate being able to simply flip a switch or turn a dial and have heated pool water. It has been relatively recent — the past 50- years — that heating residential pools has become almost normal part of pool ownership. Today’s technology has made heating pool water more affordable and economical and makes it easier for families to use the pool longer during the season because of the heated water.

The history of heated swimming pools

The Ancient Romans may have been the first to have had their swimming pools dug and heated, but when swimming was introduced to the puritanical societies it caused an uproar! Exposing one’s skin was forbidden and that meant anyone who wanted to swim had to be covered from head to ankle and that made it difficult to swim.

Add to that the idea that swimming certain strokes like the breast stroke or the crawl were also forbidden and you can see that swimming was probably not that enjoyable. The crawl, in fact was banned for being rough, crude and impolite. If one was to swim the breast stroke it had to be done by kicking sideways because no spreading of the legs was allowed.

Swimming for pleasure was introduced by the American Indians.

Todya we view swimming as an enjoyable pasttime as well as a way to get in shape without risk of injury. If you’re still considering getting a family swimming pool — and many people are especially because they are stuck in their homes because of the coronavirus, give us a call. Once the pool has been constructed and you and your family are enjoying it you will want to get on a schedule for maintenance and upkeep and we are your go-to pool service pros in Scottsdale, AZ.

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