Basically, your primary goal, like you suggested, is to divert the water from the base of your pool. Anything you can do to divert, maybe even sloped plastic under the rock, will help the most.

If you can't divert, then look for ways to keep it from penetrating vertically.....whatever you can do to make the water run away from your pool rather than under it is your goal.

I can't see your yard but you may have some runoff that you could divert before it got around your pool.

This is a good "common sense" problem with lots of potential fixes....just need to come up with the right combination of aesthetics and functionality.