Dedicated in 1997 to brothers David E. Barney and Peter B. Barney—who together built a legacy of swimming excellence in New Mexico—Barney Natatorium is a state-of-the-art, award-winning aquatics facility located at Albuquerque Academy. Dave and Peter Barney devoted decades of energy, enthusiasm, and expertise to young swimmers and experienced athletes alike. They shared a vision for a full-service aquatics facility that would serve as a center for New Mexico aquatics. Dave Barney, who coaches the high school swim team at Albuquerque Academy, worked closely with architect Patrick McClernon to make this vision a reality.
The Barney Natatorium comprises a competition pool and an all-purpose pool. Dave Barney cites the aquatics rule, "deep, non-turbulent water is fast water," as the basis for the competition pool design. This pool was constructed with minimum depths of seven feet, large trench gutters, wide diameter racing lanes, and radiated, bottom-return water.
The all-purpose pool may be reconfigured to accommodate a variety of aquatics activities and features a fiberglass swim wall that can be moved to create several different sized pools: a diving tank featuring 13- and 14-foot depths for both one- and three-meter diving, a shallow-water teaching pool, and a 25-yard and 25-meter warm-up pool. The water in the all-purpose pool is maintained at a higher temperature - four to five degrees warmer than the competition pool. Together, the two pools contain more than 700,000 gallons of water, which is completely turned over by nine EPD horizontal filters every five hours.
Anticipating that the facility would host state and national events, the spectator area was designed with 500 seats, making it a perfect venue for witnessing some of the finest aquatics events in the nation!
The Barney Natatorium was a 1999 AGC (Associated General Contractors) “Best Buildings” winner in the “Energy Conscious Design” category. The award cites the combined efforts of architect Patrick McClernon, Bridgers and Paxton Consulting Engineers, Inc., and Bradbury & Stamm General Contractors.
Directions: Barney Natatorium is located at Albuquerque Academy
6400 Wyoming Blvd NE, Albuquerque New Mexico 87109
Visitors traveling north-south on I-25 take exit #231 East, San Antonio Ave. Turn east (toward the Sandia Mountains) onto San Antonio Ave. and go approximately 1.5 miles to Wyoming Blvd. Turn right onto Wyoming Blvd. Turn left at the traffic light at Burlison, into the Academy campus. Make an immediate right turn onto the service road and proceed to parking lot #6.
Visitors traveling east-west on I-40 take exit #164 North. Turn right and travel north on Wyoming Blvd. approximately 4.3 miles. Turn right at the traffic light at Burlison into the Academy campus. Make an immediate right turn onto the service road and proceed to parking lot #6.
