Olympic Swimming Dreams Have Ties to Sumner's South Sound Titans

Anyone who follows my blog knows I am biased toward keeping the Sumner Pool open.  And, why wouldn't I be?  As a parent, I see the pool as an asset we can't afford to let close forever — regardless of whether my children are using it or not. 

 I know that some kids have swim dreams, but boy was I surprised when I found out that real Olympic dreams have their roots with the South Sound Titans — a nonprofit,  year-round competitive swim team that practices five nights a week at the Sumner Pool.

Most of us know swimmer Megan (Quann) Jendrick as a South Sounder who made us proud at the 2000 Summer Olympics, winning two gold medals.  She then made a comeback to win a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.  I recently found out that Jendrick swam a number of years for the South Sound Titans (obviously holding some team records!). 

To have one athlete of that caliber come from our local team is inspiring to not only a rookie 10-year-old swimmer, but to his mom, too!

But Olympic dreams don't stop there. 

Bailey Kuestermeyer, another athlete with ties to the South Sound Titans, recently was invited to the 2011 collegiate recruitment camp to be held at the Olympic Training Center (OTC) in Colorado Springs this July.  She is part of a select group of athletes whom the recruiters for USA Triathlon feel have the potential to make the 2016 and beyond Olympic teams.  Bailey will be staying in the dorms at the OTC and eating in its cafeteria, right next to Olympians, medalists and future Olympians.

When I asked Bailey her thoughts on the possible pool closure in Sumner, she had some interesting insight.

"I have had the opportunity to swim at the Sumner pool, and I agree it would be a loss to the community to close it completely. As a club and a high-school swimmer, we were constantly searching for pool time due to the high number of teams in the area and the lack of pools able to accommodate us," she said.  "We would sometimes have to drive 45 minutes just to get pool time. I would not have been able to train to the level that I did without reserved pool space — many times that pool space being at Sumner. 

"If one of the pools I swam at regularly had closed, it would have compressed the available pool time for the remaining pools in the area.  It is necessary to have regularly available facilities in order to get the most out of your training, no matter what your goals may be."

Hey, I know most kids aren't going to make the Olympics — but they have dreams. 

Whether they are merely to learn to swim, be part of a swim team, to dive, play water polo or just splash and goof around, a pool is an integral part of a community and creates a quality of life you can't measure in dollars and cents.  Yes, pools aren't in business to  make money — if they were, few, if any, communities across the United States would have them.  Pools are about providing a service to the community.  And sadly, they are becoming farther and few between. 

Let's not let Sumner's pool close without a fight.  Let your voice be heard by sending e-mails to the school board and city council.  And put it on your calendar to attend the next school board meeting on Wednesday, June 8, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the district offices, located at 1202 Wood Avenue.  Hope to see you there!