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Health & Fitness

Closing Sumner Pool Could Mean End of Swim Dreams

Loss of pool would mean loss of a USA Swim club - the governing body of competitive swimming in the United States

With the Sumner High School pool under the threat of closure, I've had several friends suggest that my son could join the YMCA swim team.  We have options, right?  The Puyallup Y is just up the road, so we could do that in the interim until when (and if) the YMCA in Sumner/Bonney Lake is built and includes a much-hoped-for pool.  There are several reasons why a new YMCA pool will NOT be the answer for many athletes pursuing competitive swimming in our area.

Unfortunately pools are never money makers, but they do provide a service that is difficult to monetize in any practical way.  From swim lessons, to open lap swims for people of all ages, to competitive swim team practices - a pool plays an important role in a community.

So, who are the South Sound Titans and why should anyone care?  The Y has a swim team!

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The Titans are a competitive, year-round swim team that practices five days a week at the Sumner High School pool.  The emphasis here is on the word "competitive." Although the local YMCA offers "competitive" swimming, it could be more aptly described as a recreational league.  Maybe for my son, as a rookie and younger team member, that would be ok - at least for now.  But for the older athletes who have been swimming for years, closing the pool could mean the end of some serious dreams. In large part because Sumner would lose a USA Swimming member club.

What's the big deal about being a USA Swimming club?

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USA Swimming is the governing body of competitive swimming in the United States.  It is responsible for the management and conduct of competitive swimming from the U.S. Olympic team trials down to the local Pacific Northwest Swimming challenge meets.  Anytime you see an American swimmer on TV, he/she is part of a USA Swimming program.  To learn more about USA Swimming, visit www.usaswimming.org.

 Under USA Swimming, there are several units of administration that are progressively smaller in size and increasingly local in scope.  The most important is called the Local Swimming Committee (LSC).  There are approximately 54 in the United States.  The South Sound Titans belong to the LSC known as Pacific Northwest Swimming (PNS).  Geographically, PNS ranges from the Cascades west and the Canadian border south to just past Centralia/Chehalis.  There are about 5,000 athletes registered in PNS and it includes national champions, Olympic gold medalists, and even one world-record holder.  The swimmers that train with the member clubs of PNS are of all ages and abilities and include several disability swimmers that have participated in the Paralympics.  There are approximately 50 to 60 clubs in PNS. 

"Unfortunately, the YMCA will not be all things to all people and swimming in a competition sized tank will probably not be part of the final design (of a new Y in Sumner/Bonney Lake) if the budget of $8 to $13 million is accurate," says Shawn Jones, head coach of the South Sound Titans.  "A pool of any substance would cost $6 to $8 million dollars alone and that's the economy version."

Parents seeking more than a drop off, supervised opportunity for their child would do well to seek out a USA Swimming member club.  The coaches are professionals - often that is their only job.  Each coach must be certified by USA Swimming and many of have undertaken other professional certifications and even undergraduate and graduate work to support their professional status as a USA Swimming coach. 

While I think the Y is a great place, it's not for everyone - and it's not going to take the place of an incredible asset we have sitting right downtown at Sumner High School. Where will our competitive swimmers go?  The Sumner School District says they are looking for alternate facilities for their high school swim teams to practice.  I'd like to know where they're looking.  The Titans have been looking.  Unfortunately, pools are becoming harder and harder to find.  The Sumner High School pool is an asset that we can't just sit back idly by and let disappear.  Because having to travel to pools in Enumclaw, Auburn, Federal Way or South Hill isn't going to cut it. 

 

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