The Vancouver Aquatics Centre is an indoor facility. It replaces the Crystal Pool at Sunset Beach that was opened in 1928 and was demolished in 1974. A contract to renew the facility was let in 2023 and the project is expected to take seven years to complete. The pool is the home of the Canadian Dolphin Swim Club which has contributed to the success of many British Columbia and Canada athletes and coaches.

Crystal Pool at Sunset Beach, demolished in 1974 and replaced by the aquatic centre, was originally a saltwater pool built as part of a private club, the Connaught Beach Club. Because of racial segregation at the pool from its beginning in 1928 until 1945, which allowed oriental and brown-skinned people to swim at the pool only one day a week, the nearby Indian Reserve beach at False Creek became informally known as "Brown Skin Beach".