By Libby Nisley, Pool Manager
The pool is open for business and some nice updates have been made to the facility. It was a bit chilly for swimmers early on, but I am hopeful our heating will be fixed as I write this article and the system should be good to go for the season.
I made a rule modification for this season which allows swimmers ages 7-12 to be at the pool without supervision as long as they can pass a swim test- swimming one length of the pool and treading water for 30 seconds. Swimmers and their parents must sign a permission form and provide contact information, as well as agreeing to adhere to the rules and respect the lifeguards. Before, swimmers needed to be 9 years old to attend without a guardian. There are swimmers younger than 9 years old who swim well and have the respect and responsibility necessary to swim without parent guidance.
I think it’s important to have contact information on file, so this new policy is a bit of a compromise between age and ability and requires good behavior.
In addition, I changed the rule for babysitters or older siblings bringing young swimmers to be age 14, when it was previously 16. Since kids can get jobs at 14, I felt this was an appropriate age. The only other changes to rules were additional rules regarding our new water slide. A full list of the swimmer rules can be found on our Powder River County Pool Facebook Page or at the pool itself.
Swimming lessons have been planned for July 11, 18, 25, and August 1 & 8. The lessons filled up within a day or two of being open, other than level 5. I would encourage junior high aged kids considering lifeguarding in their future to take level 5 lessons, where refining the different swimming strokes, water entry techniques, and such would be covered. I’m so glad to see the interest in swimming lessons again this year!
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