University Of Minnesota Recreation & Wellness Center

The University of Minnesota Recreation Center offers everything students and faculty could possibly need. This was my first visit for the purpose of volunteering at USA Swimming Junior National Championship. Parking can be a challenge for visitors. There is a nearby parking garage and very limited surface spaces. The area around the pool was clean. The building although dated to possibly the 70's is in great condition. The majority of the facility is the competition pool used by the University of Minnesota Swim team. The facility is nicely maintained. However, faculty and students can use the pool. The Olympic size competition pool is 50 meters with movable bulkhead, platform diving and well. The aquatic complex consist of approximately 145,000 gallons of swimming capability. The Long Course pool has eight lanes for competition..The spectator area is expansive and spans the entire length of both sides of the pool and well. The public locker room area is large and pretty clean. There were two malfunctioning items. Great facility and hope to return for another event in the near future.

I've been utilizing the UMN Rec Center for over two years now and I remain extremely impressed with the quality of my membership. As a staff member, the reimbursement program through Medica is such a great deal, and as long as I go 8 times a month, $20 is credited back to my account each month, making the membership overall very affordable! I don't personally take classes, but I know folx really enjoy those and there are certain reimbursement programs for those as well (e.g. attend all sessions of your yoga class and receive a certain portion of the payment back). It pays to prioritize wellness!As far as the facility itself, I regularly utilize the track, cardio equipment on the third floor, and the north gyms. As someone who hates feeling claustrophobic while working out, this gym has SO much space for everyone to work out! Depending on when you go, you might find certain rooms/equipment to be crowded--that's just how the cookie crumbles. During these times, towels aren't always available, which can be frustrating, but again, consider going at a less busy time. I typically work out between the hours of 5:45-7am, so the gym is always super dead, which I love. Overall, I'm impressed with the quality of the machine and equipment, and appreciate that the management keep up with updating equipment.Overall, the building is beautiful, and I really appreciate the architecture, window paneling, and overall layout. It's super user friendly, and there are plenty of pockets for folx to go who prefer not to work out around/with others. Also, the French Meadow bakery is a nice additional touch. If you're a new student or employee at the U, I'd recommend a gym membership here--it's clean, convenient, and not dated.Some personal training sessions is the next program I'll hopefully look into soon!

This is a beautiful venue! I attended fit fest at this event so we were all over the venue. I got to explore a few levels of the building.There are lots of rooms that we used for classes which I appeared to be multi purpose (classes-both academic and workout). There is a nice indoor running track and what appeared to be ample equipment.There is also a lot of court space throughout. I thought it was a beautiful facility but a bit tall and narrow compared to a larger foot print. But that is just my personal preference.

University of Minnesota has Olympic size and competition quality pools. It is good for athletes as well as recreational swimmers. Unlike certain universities, UoM pools are very plain and simple and there's no water park like recreational pools available. If one has a car or willing to travel, University of Minnesota's St. Paul gym is a good place to swim for recreation.

The U's Rec and Wellness center is a gem. It's the biggest recreation and wellness center in the Big 10, which is saying a lot when it has a smaller enrollment size compared to Michigan and Ohio State. I have a gym membership, so I go between 4 and 5 times a week. They have cardio machines in every corner, multiple weight areas, a rock wall, three pools, 2 large basketball gyms, racquetball courts, locker rooms, dedicated core areas, various multipurpose rooms, and a cafe to get smoothies and sandwiches. For students and staff members, it's a great place to stay fit or just to get a quick workout in. The Rec center also hosts various campus events for the community. It's hours are great, as it's open till 11 M-F and till 10 on Sunday. I've used this gym a ton for the little amount of time I've been here and will continue using it in the winter months.

A very nice facility for state high school synchronized swim meets. After spending the season in high school pools competing it is a real luxury to come to a huge pool with a full dive well and a lot of spectator seating. Pay to park in the adjacent structure for an easy walk and there are plenty of nice coffee and meal venues within a short walk. Probably the nicest swim facility in the state.

Simply the best competitive swimming venue in MN by far! Outstanding seating, a super fast pool - fast times, always draws in the best competition from around the nation - world. Locker rooms are small - could be bigger, concessions are over priced - but great restaurants around the venue. Very Family friendly!! More pools are needed like this in MN for competitive swimming.

All I wanted to do was get some help, instead, I was being condescended to, given really foul attitude, and made to feel a burden, all by the building manager who is supposed to address issues patrons has. This is a great center, until it's not. I go almost every single day. I've only ever had an issue twice. The problem is that they have almost no one to address issues. it could be as simple as asking patrons to follow the policy. member services apparently isn't allowed to do this. So, by the time a manager comes, the patrons violating the policy have caught on that you're complaining, and they run away. Then you're told, well they're gone now so....and if you don't accept their answer to basically deal with policy violations and move then why have the policy in the first place. You're even told to ignore those who were giving you a hard time and not following the rules and told "you could just go to another machine" I guess that's true if that wasn't my last one. I was then told, "well there's one other one on the third floor." Suddenly, it became a discussion of buts and should haves and not addressing my concern at all. It's so exhausting as a patron to be put down when I literally just wanted to use a machine when they were basically not using it and reserving it as a group. Only after it was escalated to higher up individuals (beyond - to reiterate - beyond the basic building manager - was my issue at least somewhat addressed. Again, almost always there is no issue, but when there is you won't get much help. I was berated, had eyes rolled at me, and other odd responses. What did they want me to do, escalate the situation with the patrons not allowing me to use an open machine? The reason I'm giving it one star is that this lack of basic support could be a safety issue at some point and demonstrates a weak infrastructure to enforce their own rules.

The University of Minnesota system's largest swimming pool, the Aquatic Center's Natatorium comprises a 50-meter pool (often subdivided width-wise into 25-meter lanes) with a separate diving well. Several lap lanes are open to UMN affiliates and the public for recreational lap swimming at various times of the day, although swimmers are often shunted into the older and shabbier pools of neighboring Cooke Hall if the Nata is hosting a swim meet--which can be annoyingly often at certain times of the year. The facility is pretty modern, traffic is usually tolerable, and the water is kept to clean-and-cold competition standards, making it an excellent lap swim workout spot; just remember to check the pool schedule (recwell.umn.edu) beforehand.