Wedgewood Park pool goes to the dogs for last swim

The pool at the Wedgewood Park Recreation Centre was filled to capacity Friday night — but not by people. Staff say they wanted to do something special for the final swim before the centre shuts down.

"We decided to let it go to the dogs for the last swim." says Leslie White, recreation coordinator with the City of St. John's.

• Saying goodbye to Wedgewood Park's recreation centre

Dog owners were invited to bring their pets to the pool for an all-dog swimming party. About 30 lucky dogs took part in the Pooch Plunge event, the first of its kind in St. John's.

Space was limited as White said registration filled up fast, with a long wait list.

"We're very excited," she said.

"We read about [it] across the country that [centres] do it when they were getting towards the end of swims at a lot of sites, and we thought it would be really fun."

Built in 1972, The Wedgewood Park Recreation Centre housed a pool, a gym and some office space. It's being closed in preparation for the opening of a new facility in early 2017.

'Best idea ever'

Laura Dominguez was thrilled to bring her dog Bruno for a paddle with his fellow pooches.

"He went around the pool four times," Dominguez said.

"We've been wanting to do this forever, so this was the best idea ever."

Watch the video above for an underwater look at the Pooch Plunge, and subscribe to the CBCNL Youtube Channel.