Outdoor pool association marks 60th summer
Almost 100,000 volunteers and as many athletes have been involved over the years
Figuring out how to celebrate the Association of Lakeshore Pools’ 60th summer hasn’t been easy, according to president Lynn Lécuyer.
The head of the 22-pool association chalked up some of the challenges surrounding the milestone to the volunteer-basis on which ALPs has run since its inception in 1958. She is not paid for her work with the association and neither are any other members of the ALPs executive committee.
The board of directors of all member pools also offer their time outside of their own busy lives, Lécuyer explained.
Gary Milton, ALPs’s past president, who’s been involved with the association for the last 20 years, said that that’s how it’s always been. ALPs formed when four pools (two from Dorval and two from Pointe-Claire) joined together to promote recreation and safety by sharing knowledge regarding swimming lessons and water hygiene.
The community is “the backbone of the whole thing,” he said.
Now he describes the association’s role as overseeing the four aquatic disciplines offered by its members: swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water polo.
That’s why, upon choosing the association’s new logo for the anniversary, Lécuyer felt the one they settled on — a heart formed by 12 hands surrounding illustrations representing the four sports — best represents the ALPs community.
“It really emphasizes (the saying) ‘It takes a village to raise a kid,’ ” she said.
She estimates that ALPs has seen close to 100,000 volunteers in the last 60 years and just as many athletes. This year, there are approximately 2,400 children competing in the four sports, she explained — a number that is steadily increasing each year. And everything that the parent-volunteers do, she said, has those children at heart.
“One of my mandates is to give the child, any kid, give the feeling of belonging to something,” Lécuyer said. That belonging is a life lesson that a child can carry with them into their future career, she continued.
“Even the kid who is six years old and is only swimming 25 metres — one lap — and comes in third ... counts,” she said, adding that each race a child swim contributes to a team’s overall tally of points, affecting their standing in the association.
“The kids know that their efforts don’t go unnoticed and they’re not irrelevant,” Lécuyer said. “Every child’s time, every child’s score is relevant.”
That’s why Milton has been involved all these years, he said. He described the community pools as a “very healthy, safe environment” for children to grow up in, his two daughters included. Learning a sport, practising discipline and often moving onto coaching “is a life learning experience for a lot of them,” he said.
The association also tries to give children who might not otherwise be able to test out competitive aquatic sports a chance to dip their toes in the water, Lécuyer said.
“It’s not as competitive because we want to bring in the kids that don’t necessarily have access to (the sports) in the winter,” she said. Milton offered their novice divers meet and summer synchro competition as examples of beginner-oriented opportunities that area available exclusively to newer athletes.
And it isn’t rare to see local athletes move on to compete on the world stage, Lécuyer said. Milton was able to name more than a dozen current and former ALPs athletes from all domains who have represented the country, including some at this year’s FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
One example is Nathan ZsomborMurray, a 14-year-old from PointeClaire, who got started at Viking Pool. On July 15, the youngest diver competing at the championships placed fifth in the mixed 10-metre synchronized diving event with partner Meaghan Benfeito.
“The whole ALPs community is so supportive of any athlete who’s moving up in competitive sports,” said Lécuyer. “They feel the waves.”