Winston-Salem pools open
Special to The Chronicle
Bolton Pool, Parkland and Kimberley Park pools opened for the Memorial Day weekend May 28-30.
Bolton will open daily for the summer starting Saturday, June 4. Kimberley Park, Parkland and Polo Pool will be open the weekend of June 4-5. They along with Happy Hill, Mineral Springs, Reynolds Park and Sprague pools will open daily for the summer on June 10.
All pools will offer free children’s swimming lessons starting June 13. Sign-ups will be June 11 at 10 a.m. at each pool. Additional sessions of children’s swim lessons will start July 5 and July 23. Sign-ups are on July 2 and July 21 at 10 a.m.
Free adult swim lessons start June 18 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 parents and children 5 and under starting June 18. 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 the water play areas at Bolton and Kimberley 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 band 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.
Complete information about the aquatics program, pool calendars and hours, and dates for swim lessons is available at www.WePLAY.ws. For more information call CityLink 311.
