FAQ’s

The pool is named after Mary Wayte, who grew up and learned to swim on Mercer Island. She became one of the greatest female swimmers in American history winning five Olympic medals (including two gold) at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, CA and the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul South Korea. About Mary Wayte

1984 Gold Medal Swim :

Mary Wayte 2016 interview :

John Walker was a co-owner of Olympic Cascade Aquatics with his business partner, Alice Godfred. When the pool was at the brink of closure back in 2011, John and Alice stepped forward to manage the operations of the pool. Through a partnership with the Mercer Island School District, the City of Mercer Island, and OCA, Mary Wayte Pool remains open to the public today. On August 18, 2018, John passed away after a short, but tough fight against colon cancer. Because of John’s hard work and dedication to Mary Wayte Pool the natatorium was named the John Walker Natatorium in his honor.

The pool has stayed in operation due to the generous support of many community members. Please send an email to manager@mercerislandpool.com for more information on how you can help support the Mary Wayte Pool.

Olympic Cascade Aquatics, otherwise known as OCA, is the management company that manages and operates Mary Wayte Pool. OCA is also a USA Swimming competitive age group team that considers Mary Wayte Pool their “Home Pool”. The team has ranked nationally in the ASCA Top 50 Age Group Programs Large Team Division multiple times. For more information on the OCA Swim Team, visit www.ocaswim.com. The OCA swim team is a separate entity from Mary Wayte Pool, and all questions about the team should be directed to the OCA Swim Team via their website.

Click here.

OCA requires all lesson participants to have a waiver for every participant for every lesson registered. It is required by our insurance carrier.

When you book a spot in our group or private lessons, you are taking a spot that someone else could have booked. With that in mind, private lessons must be cancelled at least 24 hours in advance to receive credit for the class. A phone call followed up with an email is the best way to cancel a class so there is a time stamp. There is no credit or refund for group classes that are missed unless the classes were cancelled by the Mary Wayte Staff. There is a fee of $10 or 10% (whichever is greater) to transfer or withdraw from any group class. This fee is per class, not per student. Summer classes have a $25 fee to drop a class that was booked in advance. Fees can be waived with a medical note from your physician.

Children under 6 or less than 3’6” tall are required to have an adult in the water swimming with them. We recommend that swimmers be at least six months old prior to swimming. Swim diapers are required for children who are not potty trained. Reminder that children over 6 years of age must use their gender specific locker room.

Yes. We are open to the public and no membership is required to attend swims open to the public. For our current schedule CLICK HERE. The pool is owned by the Mercer Island School District and operated by OCA.

The pool is open regularly for family swim (in the shallow pool) and lap swims (in the deep end of the pool). CLICK HERE for our current pool schedule.

No. An Olympic competition is in a 50-meter pool. The pool is 40 yards long with a bulkhead at 25 yards, which constitutes the distance required for high school events and United States Swimming short course distance.

No. The pool has a 1-meter spring board which is open during high school competition only.

We use chlorine to sanitize the pool.

Pool Temp a comfortable 83 degrees Fahrenheit. The air averages between 85 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit. Please dress like its summer year-round at the pool.

Available weekends. CLICK HERE for more party rental information.

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The pool has a great relationship with Northwest Center. There are blue clothing donation bins for dropping off re-usable clothing next to the tennis courts. For more information on donating other items, visit www.bigbluetruck.org or call 800-992-2060. Please do not leave garbage or furniture at the bins.

We do have lost and found. It is kept for two (2) weeks. We keep valuable items (phones, wallets, headphones, jewelry…) at our front desk. All other items are located outside the pool by the blue donation bins. Please note that we are not responsible for lost or stolen items.