Premier equipment for Premier League players

With footballers earning millions of pounds each year, Premier League clubs invest in quality training facilities to ensure players remain in peak physical condition throughout the season.

Challenge: Reducing exercise-induced muscle damage

Commonly known as Wolves, Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club has spent 115 of their 121 Premier League seasons to date within the top two tiers of English football.

Like many elite sporting clubs, Wolves use swimming pools for training, rehabilitation and recovery purposes. Players use the pools after every training session to reduce the effect of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), which is exercise-induced muscle damage.

“The cold plunge pool is designed to deliver a combination of cold water, preferably at 8 degrees Celsius working with the deep water – a critical factor to induce hydrostatic pressure on the muscle tissue,” explains Aqua Thermae managing director Richard Bishop. “Players stay in the cold-water pool for up to five minutes before immediately getting into the warm deep-water pool for 10-15 minutes, before repeating the process.”

Faced with outdated facilities and poor-quality equipment, Wolves management needed to upgrade the amenities to ensure the club’s valuable players had access to first-rate after-training recovery solutions.

Solution: Waterco’s high-performance commercial filtration systems

To maintain clean, healthy water at the Wolves’ training facility at the Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground in Wolverhampton – and ensure maintenance was kept to a minimum – Aqua Thermae installed a range of Waterco products known for their durability and reliability.

“Due to the two new plunge pools having high bathing loads and used every day, it was important that the equipment was suited to these challenges in order to produce and maintain crystal clear water,” says Bishop.

SwimEx Cold Water Plunge Pool 3m3 (3,000L) kept at a temperature of 8-10 degrees

• Lacron MBF24” commercial filter with Waterco’s Glass Pearls media – provides superior water quality while reducing backwash water
• Lacronite ECO-V 1.00HP variable speed pump – optimum filtration, quieter operation, higher reliability and maximum energy savings

SwimEx Hot Water Plunge Pool 3m3 (3,000L) kept at a temperature of 35-37 degrees

• Lacron MBF24” commercial filter with Waterco’s Glass Pearls media – provides superior water quality while reducing backwash water
• Lacronite ECO-V 1.00HP variable speed pump – optimum filtration, quieter operation, higher reliability and maximum energy savings
• Turboflo 3.00HP commercial pump – hydraulically efficient, high-performance pump powers the 16 jets

“Waterco’s Lacron Deep Bed MBF filters were used due to the confined area of the plantroom, however the filter’s one-metre bed depth operating at 25m3/m2/hr ensures a high standard of in-depth filtration,” Bishop explains. “The MBF range features sight glasses as standard for backwash viewing and a side service hatch, making it the perfect filter for the job.”

Waterco Europe CEO Tony Fisher says collaborating with Aqua Thermae on the Wolves project provided the perfect outcome for Wolves management and players.

“High-quality rehabilitation facilities ensure players can perform at optimum levels and concentrate on what they do best: play the beautiful game!”

Conclusion: Premier equipment for Premier League players

Wolves Lead Soft Tissue Therapist Matt Wignall says Waterco’s first-class equipment has enhanced the Premier League club’s training, rehabilitation and recovery facilities.

“Richard Bishop and the Aqua Thermae team managing director continue to provide myself and Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club with impeccable service. Their expert knowledge on hydrotherapy pools, automated chlorine/pH dosing systems and filtration technology has improved operating procedures and made running the SwimEx pools more cost-effective,” he explains.

Waterco has become the preferred choice of many pool and spa builders throughout the world. And, as Bishop explains, it’s as much to do with its premier equipment range as it does with the company’s customer service.

“Over the years, we have installed Waterco equipment on many of the pools that we have built and where plantrooms have been refurbished,” he says. “It is important for us and our customers to know that the products we install are of the highest quality and that is what we get from Waterco – along with the best level of customer service and product support.”

SwimEx president Suzanne Vaughan says the custom hand-built hot and cold plunge pools ensure premium water quality and sports deep water facilities for players.

“The space and access available were a bit challenging, but by working together with AquaThermae and their water treatment partners like Waterco, and the Wolves medical and performance staff, we were able to come up with a design that suited their space perfectly,” she explains. “We love working with clients to help them achieve their goals.”

SwimEx design and build Premium Sports pools for elite teams across the world including New England Patriots, Denver Broncos and Boston Red Sox.

Aqua Thermae are currently installing SwimEx projects across the UK and Europe in Ireland and Norway.

Download: wolverhampton-wanderers-football-club-case-study.pdf