Upcoming events that may interest you:
- Tomorrow: Planning meeting for the Rainier Beach Pool replacement
- Tuesday June 9, 2009. 6:30 - 8:30 at the Rainier Beach Community Center.
- Organized by the Seattle Parks Department, which seeks to “learn about what is important in a community center and pool for this neighborhood.” The Parks Dept is eager for community input. Details.
- August: Summer Splashtactulars
- Saturday, August 8th at both Meadowbrook (1:30-3:00) and Rainier Beach Pools (time TBD). [Updated 6/8/09: Time corrected.]
- FREE admission. Lots of fun, pool games and prizes. Info on water safety will be available too.
- Events are sponsored by both Seattle Parks and Project Seattle Pools.
- Email Christine@seattlepools.org if you would like to help with either event.
Other updates:
- NE and SE pool planning grant applications submitted
- Kudos to Christine, Aimee, Yvette and Melanie for their tireless work in submitting Neighborhood Matching Fund Grant Applications. Details.
- We expect to be notified of the City’s decisions on these applications by mid-July. If awarded the grant, work to hire an urban planning consultant would begin early fall. Public Planning Meetings would be held during the winter/spring of 2009-2010.
- Pool closures looming
- Many pools in our region are threatened by tight budgets and overdue maintenance. We’re tracking the list of pools here.
- In Seattle, supporters of the UW’s Hec Ed Pool seek your support in signing a petition to keep this pool open.
Help Parks Dept. Design the Rainier Beach Pool Replacement: Tuesday, June 9, 6:30-8:30pm
03 Jun
Posted by admin as Uncategorized
The Seattle Parks Department would like to invite you to an open house to discuss the design of the "possible replacement" of Rainier Beach Pool and Community Center. Public input and participation are invited and encouraged.
Rainier Beach pool is reaching the limit of its useful life, so Parks plans to replace it when funds become available. According to Parks, "The design team with ARC Architects in the lead will be running the meeting beginning at 6:30. The pool designer is from California and will be part of the meeting as well."
When: Tuesday, June 9, 2009, 6:30 – 8:30pm
Where: Rainier Beach Community Center
8825 Rainier Ave S
Seattle, WA 98118-4928
Contact: david.graves@seattle.gov
Members of the community have long been able to join the Husky Master Swim Team and swim at the UW’s Hec Ed Pool. With the recent elimination of the UW swim teams, Hec Ed swimmers need your help to keep this pool open:
Dear Friend:
As you know, the University of Washington Men’s and Women’s Swim Teams have been cut. While there is a push to self-fund the swim teams, one possible unintended consequence of the current decision would be to close the Hec Edmondson Pavilion pool. This closure would ruin at least three more UW associated teams that use the pool (not counting the numerous high school swim meets and that occur there). Men’s and Women’s Club Water Polo and Husky Masters Swimming use the facility year round and due to size restrictions, the IMA pool is not an alternative.
Please support us to keep the Hed Ed Pool open by signing the below online petition. We will be sending the signatures to the UW athletic department in the coming weeks.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/HecEdPool
Thank you for your support!
We’re keeping a running list of endangered pools and programs here so that you can keep tabs on pool concerns near you. New:
- Mount Rainier Pool (Auburn) has been added to the "endangered" list.
- Some public wading pools in Seattle will be closed this summer to allow for updates necessary to comply with a new safety law.
From today’s Seattle Times: Injured vets to lose rehab pool in White Center
His service as an Army paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division cost Cyril Miller two good knees. A couple of hundred rough landings can do that.
"I was a paratrooper; that’s all you need to hear," said Miller, 71, who lives in West Seattle.
Miller, like some other local veterans, relies on Evergreen Pool in White Center and its weekly rehabilitation classes to feel better. Since leaving the Army about five decades ago, Miller has had both knees replaced, was diagnosed with diabetes and underwent six years of dialysis before receiving a kidney transplant in 2007.
But soon the county budget will cost him, too.
After June 30, Evergreen Pool, owned and operated by King County, will be shut down. That’s because it’s among the "lifeboat" of services funded for only half of the year due to the county’s budget problems. … read more>>
More info on pool closures in the Seattle area is available here.
In April, groups of pool supporters in both NE and SE Seattle submitted applications for neighborhood matching fund (NMF) grants. These grants would make it possible to begin the planning process necessary for adding and/or upgrading Seattle’s public pool facilities.
Thanks go to the many pool supporters who helped with our NMF application by pledging hours of volunteer time as matching contributions. The grants are now under consideration by the City.
It is important to do planning like this even in lean economic times because public planning is a slow process. Doing long-term planning now ensure we have well-thought-out and broadly supported plans at hand when better economic times return. City Council Resolution R31073 recommends that the next Park capital levy address unmet swimming needs, so ready-to-go plans will be needed when that levy is composed.
Southeast NMF Application (.doc)
Friends of Pools in SE Seattle will hire a professional urban planner to work with Seattle Parks and the community to make site recommendations for a new outdoor pool in southeast Seattle, to assess the service capacity of existing indoor facilities serving residents in the southeast, and to suggest long-term financing options.
Northeast NMF Application (.pdf) Northeast NMF Budget (.pdf)
Friends of Pools in NE Seattle will hire a professional urban planner to work with Seattle Parks and the community to make site recommendations for a new outdoor pool in northeast Seattle, to recommend enhancements to existing indoor facilities serving residents in the northeast, and to suggest long-term financing options.
See also: Letter of support for NE NMF from the Northeast District Council (.doc)
Tight budgets and deferred maintenance have impacted a growing list of swimming facilities and programs in the past six months. Recent news:
Carole Ann Wald Memorial Pool (Saint Edward State Park) has been closed due to budget cuts. Will reopen soon, but funding is hazy:
- St. Ed’s Wald pool could reopen soon (Kenmore Reporter)
- New Operator to Reopen Carole Ann Wald Pool at St. Ed (Kenmore Blog)
- Get involved in the effort to keep this pool open, or just stay informed: Join Bill Leak’s mailing list, http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/Support_Northshore_Aquatics/
Yost Pool (Edmonds) will remain open this year:
- Edmonds pool will open in June, thanks to donors (HeraldNet Everett)
- Contact us if you’d like to get in touch with people involved in efforts to keep this pool open.
Juanita High School Pool (Kirkland) will likely close at the end of the summer:
- Juanita High swimming pool faces shut-down (Kirkland Reporter)
- Facebook group: Save the Juanita Pool
Info on other pools in danger of closure:
- Pools at Risk (Pacific Northwest Swimming)
- Seattle-area pools in jeopardy of closing (King-5 News, 3/12/2009): "The Fircrest swimming pool in Shoreline will end operations Friday and the Evergreen pool in south Seattle is expected to lose its King County funding in June."
UW Swim Team (Seattle) eliminated, as part of UW budget cuts:
- Washington To Discontinue Swimming Programs (Official UW news release)
- UW Cuts Swimming Teams and UW’s heartless decision leaves swimmers out in cold (Seattle Times)
- Cost of UW athletic programs. (US Dept. of Education)
- Alum efforts to save the teams (and possibly build a pool):
UW Hec Ed Pool (Seattle) endangered:
Mount Rainier Pool (Auburn) endangered:
- KING Pool Closures - A Very Real Problem (KING Aquatics).
Wading Pools in Seattle closed this summer:
- Seattle parks to operate fewer wading pools this summer — (Allows completion of updates necessary to comply with a new safety law).
[Update: We’re updating this post with additional information on pool closures as we receive it. Newly reported pool issues appear at the end of the list.]
The Parks Department will hold its next long-term planning meeting for Magnuson Park on February 3rd. We strongly encourage pool supporters to attend because attendees will be asked to prioritize Magnuson improvements. It would be very helpful to have pool supporters in attendance.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009: 4:30 – 6:30 PM
- Magnuson Building 406 − Garden Room. 6310 NE 74th Street
- Agenda for the Magnuson Park Community Communications Committee
- Key Agenda Item:
- 5:00-6:25 Review and prioritize the potential list of amenities and improvements to Magnuson Park—break out session
- 5:00-6:25 Review and prioritize the potential list of amenities and improvements to Magnuson Park—break out session
- Meeting notes from the Dec 10 meeting (provided by Parks). Our summary.
Happy New Year, Public Pool Supporters!
Project Seattle Pools will hold its first meeting of 2009 at the Columbia Branch Library on Wednesday, February 11th from 6:00-7:30 p.m.
We’ll discuss the following:
- How pools fared in the 2008 budget cycle.
- Funding options for the Comprehensive Aquatics Plan & next steps.
- Applying for a Neighborhood Matching Fund (NMF) Grant.
Location: Columbia Branch Library
4721 Rainier Ave. S.
Seattle, WA 98118
The Columbia Branch is located on the west-side of Rainier Avenue South, between South Edmunds Street and South Alaska Street. Directions to the Library
If you missed last night’s meeting: Superintendent Tim Gallagher gathered ideas from the public for a long-term vision for Magnuson Park. He encouraged anyone who missed the meeting to email comments to him at Timothy.Gallagher@Seattle.Gov. Make sure to use his full name — there’s a "Tim.Gallagher" in the City’s transportation department who gets a lot of Parks email! You can also comment on whether 4:30pm or later on in the evening is a good time for you to participate in future meetings, or just request to join the email notification list for future meetings.
We’re delighted to report that pools were well represented, so you do not need to drown Tim in pool emails right now :). Thanks to all who spoke for pools last night!
What’s next? Parks is going to organize another meeting where your participation will be important. Attendees will be broken up into small groups. Each small group will come up with a future vision for the park — drawing *exclusively* from items mentioned last night, ideas emailed to Tim or existing plans for Magnuson. Items included in each group’s vision will need to have unanimous support of all members of the group. This means there will be some horse trading, so having people who care about pools in each group would be a good thing.
Yes, the process to shape the vision for Magnuson will be long, but participation is the only way to get pools (perhaps an indoor/outdoor complex?) back into the vision for Magnuson.
Cool thing we noticed: A graphic showing Magnuson’s potential actually included a pool as a possibility for the Building 2 site. Building 2 (mapped on the right) occupies a large spot in the Historic District and Parks says it must be demolished — making it a perfect site for pools. The only other potential use Parks mentioned last night was "Potential film studio."
New Parks Program: “School of FISH” free/discounted swim lessons
11 Dec
Posted by admin as Uncategorized
Just saw this on the Parks Department web site — looks like it’s the follow-up to the "Learn to Swim" program that was cut in the 2009-2010 city budget. Neat to see that Parks found a way to continue free/discounted swim lessons for kids despite budget cuts!
School of "FISH"
Beginning January 2009
School of FISH (Fun Instruction in our Swimming Holes) is a specially priced, beginning swimming lesson program for families. Learn beginning swimming skills with your school-aged child in a fun and relaxed atmosphere.
School of FISH offers discount pricing of $2 per lesson for a paired parent and child. Your first session (10 classes) is free with a voucher. Please register ahead of time in person at one these three pools, online or over the phone.
This program is intended for elementary and middle school-aged children and their parents. Each child must be accompanied 1:1 in the water by an adult.
Beginning swimming skills taught in this program include water adjustment, bubble blowing, breath holding, kicking on front, back float and using a life jacket.
Join our School of FISH! Have some fun! Jump in the pool!
Magnuson Park Meeting, Wednesday, December 10, 4:30 pm. We just learned of an excellent opportunity to voice your support for a future public pool at Magnuson Park. Superintendent Gallagher "…is interested in hearing from the community about what people would like to see next in this unique urban park." Location: Magnuson’s "View Ridge Room" at Building 406 (“The Brig”). Full info.
January Team Meeting. We’ll address next steps, including applying for a Neighborhood Matching Fund grant to partially fund the Comprehensive Aquatics Plan. We’ll meet at a community center in Southeast Seattle. Members of our mailing list will receive an invitation with details in a few weeks. Email info@seattlepools.org to join that list.
Thank you. A hearty thanks for your enthusiastic letters to the City Council in support of funding a Comprehensive Aquatics Plan. As you know, tough economic times meant that the Council had to focus its budget efforts on Health & Human Services this year. Nevertheless, your efforts accrued strong goodwill among Councilmembers. This will pay off in future years. Councilmember Burgess described your efforts as "some of the best grassroots lobbying efforts that I’ve seen this year." According to Councilmember Godden, these efforts "certainly will not be forgotten [in future budget cycles]." For further Council feedback, see this post.
Feel free to use part or all of this update in your neighborhood or team newsletter. Thank you for your ongoing support for public pools!
Seattle Community Council Federation Supports Aquatics Planning
07 Dec
Posted by admin as Uncategorized
Project Seattle Pools thanks the Federation for its letter of support, delivered to the City Council in November:
Dear Councilmembers:
At its October 23rd meeting, the Seattle Community Council Federation, a coalition of community groups throughout Seattle, endorsed funding for the proposal for a Comprehensive Aquatics Plan. We were disappointed to learn that due to the current economic climate, funding will not be available during the current budget cycle. We urge you retain funding for a Comprehensive Aquatics Plan as a priority in future budget cycles and to think creatively about alternative sources of funding in the coming year.
Swimming is such a healthy activity for seniors, families and kids, yet Seattle is sorely lacking in facilities. There is especially a need for therapeutic pools to serve the needs of those with disabilities who must currently travel to the eastside.
With a Comprehensive Aquatics Plan, the City will have the tools it needs to improve its current pool system, develop siting criteria and a needs assessment, address maintenance issues and explore funding options.
The Federation urges you to continue to consider funding for a Comprehensive Aquatics Plan in the future. Thank you for considering our views.
Sincerely,
Rick Barrett, Vice President
Economic conditions necessitated the recent halt of our efforts to see the Comprehensive Aquatics Plan funded this year, but the news wasn’t easy for any of us. We thought you would appreciate the supportive words sent to us by many members of the City Council:
"I appreciate your understanding. Yours are some of the best grassroots lobbying efforts that I’ve seen this year, and I truly hope that we will be able to move forward with this in the near future." — Tim Burgess
"I appreciate your recognition of our budgetary situation and the difficult choices that are ahead of us. Your generous decision to postpone your effort on behalf of Project Seattle Pools is commendable. It gives your organization much credibility and it certainly will not be forgotten. We thank you for recognizing the constraints and are grateful that you have taken this action so that others may be served. It has been a great pleasure to get to know you and your organization and I am optimistic and hopeful that we can work together in the near future." –Councilmember Jean Godden
"I will build upon your work and seek to further our efforts to improve our pools as well as plan for additional pools when possible in the future. Right now we are scrambling to feed and house people and keep our commitment to human services programs. Please keep in touch." — Councilmember Tom Rasmussen
"Thank you for your understanding. Let’s hope that our economy is in a very different place this time next year." – Councilmember Jan Drago
"Thanks very much for this thoughtful and reasonable decision. I am very sorry that this is the situation, and appreciate how hard you are working on this." –Councilmember Richard Conlin
"I think most people would agree that public swimming pools are an appropriate and desired component of any municipal parks system, and Seattle could no doubt make good use of additional pools.
… I am very concerned that the Mayor’s proposed budget may well need to be trimmed when we get updated sales tax and business & occupation tax revenue projections. These two sources provide nearly 40% of our General Fund revenues and are both very sensitive to changes in consumer spending, which appears to be slowing in a significant way. (We have already seen a huge falloff in real estate excise tax revenue. A year ago we were projecting that we’d receive $51 million from this source in 2008, but now expect to receive only $33 million.)
If the updated revenue forecasts do require us to cut from the proposed budget I think we will again be forced to consider reduced library and community center hours. I’m also concerned about possible voter rejection of the upcoming Parks Levy and how we will find the millions of dollars for necessary seismic and mechanical upgrades to the city-owned Asian Art Museum and Langston Hughes Cultural Arts Center that are included in the levy package.
…I see both the need and value for more pools, it is simply a question of what we can afford and whether this is the time." — Councilmember Richard J. McIver
Lakewood Seward Park Community Association Supports Aquatics Planning
22 Oct
Posted by admin as Uncategorized
Project Seattle Pools thanks the Lakewood-Seward-Park Community Association for its recent letter of support for the Comprehensive Aquatics Plan. Excerpts:
Dear Mayor Nickels,
The Board of the Lakewood Seward Park Neighborhood Association voted unanimously to support the Project Seattle Pools initiative.
…Pools can be used by all age groups, require a minimal outlay of money, and provide a venue for family activity that is comfortable all year long in all weather conditions.
The vision, mission and values of Seattle Parks and Recreation described in the Strategic Action Plan (SAC) are supportive of exactly the kinds of benefits provided by pools.
• Vision: “Creating Community”
• Values: Programs that “Encourage health and fitness” and “Provide opportunities for lifelong play, creativity, learning and discovery.”We live in a city surrounded by water. We own it to our families to offer opportunities for children to learn how to swim that will help them remain safe while participating in water-centric activities.
…We applaud the work of Project Seattle Pools and thank the volunteers in this grass-roots community organization for using their time and talents to make Seattle an even better place to live. We hope the city will do the same.
Dolores Ranhofer, President
Lakewood Seward Park Community Association
Project Seattle Pools invites you to join us on Facebook. Thanks for helping us spread the word about this project!
Project Seattle Pools thanks State House Representative Jamie Pedersen for his recent letter of support. Excerpts:
Dear Tom Rasmussen,
I am pleased to endorse the efforts of Project Seattle Pools to pursue a Comprehensive Aquatics Plan for Seattle and hope that the city will include funding for such a plan in the 2009 budget. I am thankful for the volunteer work of community organizations such as Project Seattle Pools that strive to make Seattle an even better place to live.
According to the Center for Disease Control, "…fatal drowning remains the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14 years." We need to provide opportunities for all children to learn how to swim. We should also ensure that our elderly and special needs populations have the kind of facilities and programs that will keep them healthy. My district, like the city, spans the isthmus from Puget Sound to Lake Washington. I think we owe it to our residents of all ages and abilities who live in a city surrounded by water.
…Now is the time to plan for future aquatics facilities and programming that address the needs of all of our citizens. Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Best wishes,
Representative Jamie Pederesen
Late today, Councilman Rasmussen let us know that the economic crisis facing our country is putting an increasing burden on the city budget. The Council just received new budget estimates that require additional cuts of $7-10 million, possibly more.
For this reason, it will not be possible to fund the Comprehensive Aquatics Plan this year.
In the interest of helping the Council focus on the difficult budget process ahead, we’re ending our lobbying efforts today.
Thank you for your flood of strong letters to the Council — your letters have given new visibility to our public pools and their needs. Letters like yours would have succeeded in any ordinary year, but these are not ordinary times.
We wish the Council the best of luck in balancing the budget while bringing support to those who need it in the tough times ahead.
Thanks for your support. We’ll re-group and re-evaluate together over the next few months.
Now is the time! We need your personal email or phone call to the City Council to build Council support for a Comprehensive Aquatics Plan for Seattle. Thank you….you will make a difference.
The Council gathers budget input during the month of October 2008 and makes its final budget vote in November. The Council needs your input TODAY.
Please email each Councilmember individually to show your support. Sending each email separately has a greater impact than sending a single email to all Councilmembers at once. Tips:
- Tell them you support funding a Comprehensive Aquatics Plan — a forward-looking vision for modernizing and enhancing Seattle’s system of public pools.
- Tell them what enhancing our pool system means to you personally.
- Thank Councilmember Rasmussen for his leadership on this issue.
Seattle City Council: P.O. Box 34025, Seattle, WA 98124-4025
tom.rasmussen@seattle.gov 684-8808
richard.conlin@seattle.gov 684-8805
tim.burgess@seattle.gov 684-8806
jean.godden@seattle.gov 684-8807
bruce.harrell@seattle.gov 684-8804
nick.licata@seattle.gov 684-8803
sally.clark@seattle.gov 684-8802
jan.drago@seattle.gov 684-8801
richard.mciver@seattle.gov 684-8800
If funded, the Comprehensive Aquatics Plan will answer important questions, such as: How will the City fund long-term maintenance of new facilities? How can we modernize our existing facilities? Does our current programming meeting the needs of citizens? What new programs and facilities are required? Where can they be located? What are our top priorities?
Such a plan provides the necessary research and community process to allow individual groups to later spearhead and raise funds for individual projects, such as a pool renovation to include a warm-water therapy pool or a new outdoor pool east of I-5. We need to begin planning now in order to be ready for consideration in the next levy – pools were not addressed in this levy because they lacked sufficient planning. So let’s fund a plan!
Additional tips for contacting Councilmembers can be found here.
For further information, please contact elizabeth@seattlepools.org. A Word version of this alert that you can hand out to friends is available here.
Thank you for your support.
An enthusiastic crowd of citizen activists attended the City Council’s Budget Hearing yesterday and spoke for many issues important to the people of our city.
16 costumed pool supporters received a strong round of applause from the audience for their testimony — and probably also for their costumes (goggles, swimsuits, towels, flipflops, a sunhat, several pairs of water wings, a wetsuit, rubber ducks, a fish float ring and an inflatable alligator). It was a pleasure to participate and speak for our public pools. Photos kindly contributed by Danielle Morrow.
Elizabeth: My name is Elizabeth Nelson and I am here on behalf of Project Seattle Pools. I would like to thank Councilmembers Rasmussen, Conlin and Burgess for their leadership towards a Comprehensive Aquatics Plan and their sponsorship of this budget item.
I would also like to thank the other attendees and speakers here tonight. These are difficult times for our city and country, so I’m glad to see so many of my fellow citizens supporting the core services provided by our city.
In tough economic times like these, we must still look ahead to a brighter future and engage in long-term planning. Modernizing our city’s aging public pool system will provide health benefits to citizens of all ages and abilities, but it will require careful long-term planning.
We’re here looking ridiculous in our goggles, wetsuits and water wings to share with you some of the sunshine and joy that swimming brings into our lives. We ask for your help in bringing the sunshine of swimming into the lives of more Seattle citizens. It’s hard to swim in the lake in October, even in wetsuits.
We urge you to fund a Comprehensive Aquatics Plan for Seattle. 9/10 of our pools were built over 30 years ago, kids are being turned away from lessons and many of our pools are packed to the gills. No public pool has a graduated entry ramp for wheelchair entry. At the same time, pools are the poster child for a challenge facing the entire Parks Department – long-term financing for maintenance and operations.
The Comprehensive Aquatics Plan will answer fundamental questions such as: How should the City fund long-term maintenance and operation of pool facilities? Which current facilities need renovation and how much will those renovations cost? How can we best provide healthy swimming opportunities to underserved populations? And how should all of these needs be prioritized?
Yvette: My name is Yvette Moy. We are here to represent our neighbors in the Southeast. We would like to remind you that the Jefferson/Rainier Valley area is acknowledged by Parks to be underserved by pools of any kind. Also, there is no outdoor public pool anywhere in Southeast Seattle, or anywhere else east of I-5.
Laurin: I’m Laurin Williams, a high school swimmer, and I’m here to represent the many young people who care about our public pools. Due to the shortage of pool space, I get up at 4:30 am to join my team in the pool.
I’d like to address how the proposed budget cuts the “Learn to Swim” program. This program provided vouchers for free lessons to 1,300 3rd and 4th graders each year. 62% of these kids started out as non-swimmers. Flyers were mailed in 11 languages, so some kids arrived at lessons translating for their parents. The site with the highest redemption rate for vouchers was Rainier Beach Pool.
The elimination of the Learn-to-Swim program demonstrates how long-term financing issues for Parks impact basic health and safety programming.
Whitney: Good evening. I am Whitney Hite, Head Swim Coach at the University of Washington, but I am here tonight as a private citizen to lend my support for the Comprehensive Aquatics Plan. As I was heading over to Beijing this summer to witness swimming in the Olympics, I read an article in an outdoor magazine. It rated Seattle as the second healthiest city, only because of a lack of swimming facilities. It would have been rated number one. As we all saw in the Olympics, there is immense support for swimming in this city and country.
Shelby: I’m another high school swimmer who gets up at 4:30 am to swim. I’d like to share a quote from the Learn-to-Swim web site:
“Because we live in a city surrounded by water, we believe that swimming is a basic life skill which is essential for every child in Seattle. Studies have shown that children are developmentally receptive to learning to swim at this age. They are able to acquire the foundation for a lifetime of healthy activity and an added level of personal safety.”
Thank you for your time and please support the Comprehensive Aquatics Plan.
Video of the hearing is available on the Seattle Channel — see the October 8, 2008 budget hearing here. We’ve heard we’re about 89 minutes into the video.
The Orca Swim Team just sent an enthusiastic, water-stained petition to the City Council, signed by 45 members of their team:
Dear City Council,
We are Seattle registered voters who support Councilman Rasmussen’s Comprehensive Aquatics Plan and ask that you vote to fund it in the city Budget.
Seattle last built an indoor pool in the 1970’s… Ridiculous!!!! If Michael Phelps wanted to swim in a world class facility in Seattle, where would he go? The UW pool is dilapidated, and closed to the general public. Our population has more than doubled, and studies show swimming is one of Seattle’s primary forms of recreation. Please build more pools!!!!!
A description of Orca, from their site:
The Orca Swim Team, established in 1984 by a group of swimmers preparing for Gay Games II, is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the sport of swimming and to educating the public about the value of sports in community-building. We are an active association of gay/lesbian and gay/lesbian-friendly fitness and competitive swimmers with approximately 100 members.
