Why a community pool makes a difference in the life of people in the valley

When Chloe Ekstrom was born ten and a half years ago, little did she know she would by default end up spending a large part of her life to be in the water.  Born in early May, she was in the backyard pool by the time the summer kicked into gear in July.  Fast forward to the end of this week  on December 13th through the 15th – Chloe will be competing in the 14 and under Pacific Northwest Swimming (PNS) championships at the King County Aquatics Center in four individual events – the 100 backstroke, 100 butterfly, the 100 freestyle, and 500 freestyle – and two relays – the 100 medley and 200 freestyle.  And to make it even more special for Chloe and her family, with her time of 7:00:37, Chloe currently is rated 12th in the nation in the 500 freestyle as a 10 year old.  This makes her “Nana” Diana very proud.  You see, Diana is the owner of Summer Bonney Lake Aquatics (SBLA) and has been her coach since the day she got in her backyard pool for the first time as a three month old baby over ten years ago. 

Chloe is swimming on the Valley Aquatics Swim Team (VAST) which trains at the SBLA facility at the Sumner pool.  VAST is taking nineteen kids to the PNS championship meet.  VAST trains at a number of different pools around the Puyallup valley but since they started using the Sumner pool, their age group swimming programs is one of the fastest growing programs in the area.  Chloe loves swimming for VAST and is looking forward to this upcoming opportunity to swim in the championship meet with her VAST teammates. 

SBLA was founded two and a half years ago after the school district made the decision to close the pool down.  Since its inception, SBLA has taught over 5000 swim lessons to kids and adults of all ages, provided the community a place to swim and exercise, and provides VAST and other community programs a place to flourish.  From shallow and deep water aerobics to Aqua Zumba and open lane swimming starting at 5:30am on weekdays, many people from the surrounding communities are able to stay healthy in the warm and sparkling water at the SBLA pool.  There is a Masters Swim team that trains at the pool four times a week.  Scuba Set from Puyallup offers diving certification classes on weekends once a month.  Weekends feature open swimming times and the chance to rent the entire pool for a party or special event. All of the SBLA activities and pool schedule can be found on their website www.sumnerbonneylakeaquatics .org.  If you need an idea for Christmas, give the gift of swim lessons or a pass to your loved ones.

Best of luck to Chloe and all of the VAST swimmers this coming weekend.  Lots of proud parents and grandparents will be in the stands cheering!