Letter to the Editor: A pool is a magical place

To the Editor:

I remember when my first born learned to swim. Inspired by Michael Phelps, we went to the grocery store all decked out in cap and goggles. When my second and third child came along, swim lessons were already a weekly event. We hopped in the car, towels around our necks and flip flops on our feet, excited to see our swim teachers and play in the water. To a child water is a magical place.

Eventually my kids learned safe water skills, but like many other kids in the Shoreline area, they caught the swimming bug! Our family started our competitive swim journey right here at the Shoreline Pool with the Gators Swim Team. Since then all three have participated on five different swim teams within the city limits ranging from year-round, highly competitive leagues to summer fun leagues, but the most memorable experiences all three of them talk about is high school swim. High school swim is a magical experience.

High school Swim / Dive is one of the last few sports in our society where everyone is welcome. Everyone participates. Elite athletes compete right alongside novice swimmers. Records are broken on the same day that new swimmers make it across the pool for the first time or dive off blocks. Other kids who did cartwheels on the playground or dabbled in Parkour find their way to the diving board, some even going on to State 3A championships. Completing a reverse dive with a full twist for the first time is a magical moment.

Our Shoreline Pool is at the end of its life. As much as we would all like to hope, it is not cost effective to retrofit it. And if no pool is built to replace it, Shoreline will only have private pools only available to private neighborhoods. We will lose a very important resource impacting our current generation and those future swimmers and divers to come. Please look to our children’s future and don’t let a magical experience every child should have disappear. Vote YES on Proposition 1.

Angela Nouwens

Shoreline