Posted: 7/2/03

Based on needs, one pool may not be enough in FL

The fact that pools ranked high in Community Center surveys doesnít surprise Sue Griffin, aquatics supervisor for Forest Lake Community Education.

ìWe have to turn away about 400 people a year for swimming lessons because the cityís only pool, at Southwest Junior High, canít meet demand. It hasnít since 1994,î she said.

ìThe cityís only poolî isnít a city pool at all. Itís owned and managed by Independent School District 831.

Of the poolís 88 available hours each week, less than 35, on average, are available for community use. That isnít enough to serve existing needs, Griffin said.

The Southwest pool isnít even adequate for all school-related activities.

ìLast year, we couldnít use it for high school diving,î said Sandy Chaussee, vice president of Wavemakers, the booster club for Forest Lake High School girls and boys swim teams. She was referring to the highly publicized issue with depth of diving wells across the state.

In fall 2002, the Minnesota Department of Health started to enforce a 1995 ruling that from the edge of the diving board out to 12 feet, the pool depth must be at least 10 feet.

ìThe high school boys and girls divers had to go to Centennial Middle School in Lino Lakes to practice and compete,î Chaussee said. ìCentennial was wonderful to accommodate us, but we had to work around their schedule. Practice times for the girls were different every day, creating transportation issues.

ìFor home meets, divers competed early at Centennial, then rushed back to Forest Lake. Other team members and spectators often couldnít attend the diving portion of the meet. It just didnít feel like competition.î

The state legislature recently grandfathered in most older pools for the next school year, said Superintendent Lynn Steenblock. But there are still other local pool needs that arenít being met.

For example, local exercise physiologist and triathlon coach Barb VailOdash said the lack of pool availability has hurt her business.

ìI have a lot of clients from this area, but I canít rent space at Southwest because itís always full. We have to go all the way to St. Kateís in St. Paul.î

VailOdash joked that she could fill a Community Center pool just with programs she manages.

ìIn addition to my own swimming clinics and triathlon training, I run wellness programs for Fairview (Lakes Regional Medical Center) in Wyoming, which would love to have aquatics classes. I also coach the Mahtomedi high school girls swim team and we have to rent at Oakland Junior High in Lake Elmo, but itís not really equipped for competition,î she said.

ìIf we build a top-notch aquatics center with a diving well in Forest Lake, weíll have it booked in no time.î

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