Swimming Programs For Kids Sure Could Use A Life Preserver

My daughters couldn’t walk when they began swimming.

As fearless babies, they sensed the water’s willingness to work with them and trusted their dad, Tom, and me to keep them safe.

At first, we held them and gently bobbed. Then we let them swim the few feet between us, hugging them tightly when they reached us. As they grew older, we sat on the deck and cheered as they mastered more strokes, longer distances.

The girls graduated to competitive swimming and blossomed into confident, goal-oriented teenagers determined to swim in college.

It wasn’t easy to reach that point. My daughters weren’t the problem; the pools were.

First, the Kootenai Family YMCA closed. It was the area’s only community pool. It welcomed children and seniors, but suffered from poor management.

A few years before it closed, two private health clubs in Coeur d’Alene built pools. Both catered to working adults.

By the time the “Y” slipped onto life support in 1991, we’d moved to a private club, thinking we wouldn’t have to worry about its pool closing or its programs ending. We were paying private club prices now. We expected service.

A swim team grew at the club almost accidentally. It began with a volunteer coach and a handful of talented kids, and snowballed into the Coeur d’Alene Area Swim Team with 60-plus swimmers.

My girls and many other kids flourished on that team. They learned discipline and how to handle disappointment. They discovered the relationship between hard work and results. They thrived on their parents’ attention and encouragement.

Then the private club drove them away. Its adult members wanted their peaceful retreat back from the noisy hellions who took it over after school every day.

Pool prices went up. Practice hours dropped. Kids were natural scapegoats for every problem from wet carpets to stolen wallets.

Realizing that kids fit in private clubs as well as puppies at a church service, Tom and I joined the ranks of parents pushing for a community center with a pool. For some reason, only municipalities and nonprofit organizations seem to have success with youth activities.

It was quickly obvious a public pool was a pipe dream. Private club owners objected, claiming a community center would threaten their businesses. What an odd turn of events - they didn’t want kids, but they didn’t want kids going anywhere else.

The pool that opened in Post Falls in 1996 offered a glimmer of hope. It was touted as a community pool, but was privately owned and managed.

Veteran swim team parents moved the team to Post Falls for lack of a better option.

My daughters were preparing for college swimming by then. They couldn’t afford instability, and we wouldn’t trust their futures to another private pool that, most likely, wouldn’t hold its head above water long.

We moved them to a Spokane team that practices in public pools in schools and “Y’s” throughout the city. The daily drive was a small price to pay for tax-supported facilities that welcome kids and encourage their efforts to achieve.

We regret only that the money we pay for swimming stays in Washington.

It’s no surprise to us that the Post Falls pool is threatening to close now. Its goals were good, but it needs the broad-based support that goes with public services.

Until that happens, most of Kootenai County’s kids won’t swim - and that’s too bad. It’s done wonders for my family.

Tax deductible

A donation to the Coeur d’Alene Public Library this month could reduce your tax bill next April. Think of it as a personal Christmas present.

What’s your favorite library story? Entertain Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814; fax to 765-7149; call 765-7128; or e-mail to cynthiat@spokesman.com.