WS Chronicle

Bolton Pool, which opened over the Memorial Day holiday, will also be open June 1-2, as will Polo Pool. The pools at Kimberley Park and Parkland, which had been scheduled to open over the Memorial Day weekend, remained closed to complete modifications to make them handicapped-accessible. According to the City, those pools will open this weekend if construction is completed.

Bolton Pool will be open daily for the summer starting June 3. Kimberley, Parkland, Polo, Happy Hill, Mineral Springs, Reynolds Park and Sprague pools will open for the summer on June 8.

All pools will offer free children’s swim lessons starting June 12. Sign-ups will be June 8 at 10 a.m. at each pool. Free adult swim lessons start June 15 at all swimming pools. Contact the pool you want to attend the week before to preregister.

All pools will offer a “Babes in Arms” program for children five and under starting June 15. Contact the pool the week before to preregister.
Non-swimmers less than 48 inches tall will be required to wear life jackets in the pools. Life jackets are not required in kiddie pools and the water play areas at Kimberley Park and Bolton Park pools.

The city will provide life jackets. Patrons may bring their own life jackets if they have a stamp indicating that they are Coast Guard approved and pass inspection from the lifeguards.
Children less than 48 inches tall will be asked to take a swim test when they arrive at the pool. If they pass the test, they will receive a green wrist band that allows them to go anywhere in the pool. If they do not pass the test they will receive a red wrist band and a life jacket. They can go in the shallow end of the pool up to 3.5 feet.

The swim test consists of treading water for a minute and swimming 25 yards without touching the bottom. As the staff at a particular pool gets to know the children who attend often, lifeguards may issue green wrist bands to children who they know can swim, without administering a swim test.

Patrons over 48 inches tall will be required to take a swim test if lifeguards observe that they may be poor or non-swimmers. Those who do not pass the test will be issued a life jacket and a yellow wrist band that allows them to go anywhere in the pool except the deep end or the diving boards. Any patron who refuses to take a swim test will have to leave the pool grounds.
Swimmers with red or yellow wrist bands who are caught in the wrong section of the pool will be asked to sit out for 15 minutes. If they are caught a second time, they will have to leave the pool.

All children attending a pool as a day-care or summer-camp activity will be required to take swim tests and follow the wrist-band policy.

For more information, call CityLink 311 or go to www.WePLAY.ws.