City pool’s adultonly periods prompt threat of ‘swim-in’
Several Westmount residents are upset over the number of adultonly swim hours at the municipal pool, saying it takes access away from families with young children.
The current schedule has three periods for adult swimming every day — in the morning, early afternoon and evening — for blocks of time ranging between one and two hours.
“We’ve been fighting it for years,” said Angela Lehrer Vineberg, 39, a mother of three young children. “On a beautiful day, you’ll have 150 to 300 people there enjoying the pool, and they’ll ask everyone to leave so you can have a small number of adult swimmers who can enjoy their peace and quiet.”
The main issue, said Vineberg, is timing. Though the early-morning swim may not affect many families, the evening “adult-only” swim falls at a time that, for many young families, is the only chance to take children to the pool after returning from work.
“Westmount says it likes to cater to young, growing families but (the city) is upsetting a lot of people with this,” Vineberg said, adding that residents have filed petitions with the city and brought the argument up at city council meetings. “The demographics are changing and there are a lot more young, dualincome families who want to enjoy the pool in the evening but can’t.”
Vineberg says she and others aren’t against the idea of reserved time for adults, but they feel a compromise should be made. When temperatures soared above 32 degrees on Monday, she said, the local swimming club for children, which usually occupies the entire pool, kept a section open for anyone who wanted relief from the heat.
“Because we didn’t want to
There are a lot more young, dual-income families who want to enjoy the pool in the evening but can’t.
kick people out of the pool on a hot summer day,” Vineberg said. “Why can’t the adult swimmers do the same?”
Rosalind Davis, the Westmount city councillor in charge of sports and recreation, said the city is aware of the issue and has adjusted this summer’s schedule to try to address complaints.
Time reserved for adult swimming is down to three nights a week this year from five last summer (the other two nights have three lanes reserved for adult swim). As for the in-demand 5:30-7 p.m. slot, Davis said the city tried a different approach last year to ease complaints, by putting adult swim from 7:15 p.m. to closing time each night.
But that change disenfranchised teenagers who wanted to use the pool later at night, she said. A new schedule coming into effect next week will have adult-only swim hours start an hour later in the evening.
“The schedule has changed each year the pool has been open,” Davis said. “It’s a very popular pool and everyone wants to swim in it. We try to find the best balance to be fair to everybody but in the end, despite trying very hard, we can’t always please everybody.”
Davis says the city has received complaints from the adult swimmers, too, who want more time to themselves. They’re concerned about kids jumping on them while they’re swimming, running into them on the pool deck or overcrowding the locker rooms during shared pool time, Davis said.
“I understand both sides,” she said. “We’re working on it and trying to accommodate all demands.”
Next Tuesday, Vineberg and others are organizing what they’re calling a peaceful family “swim-in.” They’re inviting families to make their way to the pool a half hour before adult swim starts in the evening.
“When they announce on the loudspeaker that everyone under the age of 18 has to leave,” Vineberg said, “We’re going to stay there and just see what happens.”