Traveling Pools Help Landlocked Youths Get in the Swim of Summer

For city youths whose search for a pool near home has failed, San Diego’s Park and Recreation Department may have a splashy solution for a refreshing dip: portable pools.

With the summer moving toward its peak heat days, the department has been busy mobilizing its six portable pools.

“The program was created to bring pools to neighborhoods that have no permanent ones in their vicinity,” said Sally Gollehon, the department’s cultural arts recreation services manager.

Since the middle of June, the pools--15 feet wide, 30 feet long and 3 feet deep--have been moved around by trucks, Gollehon said.

Pools Are Moved Every 4 Weeks

A pool manager and three swimming instructors--all city employees--establish a pool site and oversee it for four weeks, she said. The four weeks are split into two sessions--each offering free swimming lessons. Then, the crew packs up and heads for another site.

The program, which will continue until the middle of August, offers beginning to advanced lessons, Gollehon said.

She said the one-hour lessons “will teach kids everything from how to put your face in the water, the crawl and even how to float on your back.” Certain sites will also offer recreational swimming periods, Gollehon said.

Depending on demand, some sites may offer instruction for mothers and toddlers, she said.

“As far as I know, it’s the only citywide program sponsored by the department that’s absolutely free,” Gollehon said.

There is a catch.

To be eligible for the free lessons, Gollehon said, a child must be “at least 3 feet tall and toilet trained.”

The 18-year-old program entertains almost 5,000 children every summer and costs about $110,000, she said.

Starting Monday, the portable pools will open at these locations: Dewey Elementary School, 3251 Rosecrans Place; South Bay Recreation Center, 1885 Coronado Ave.; Mountain View Recreation Center, 4015 Ocean View Blvd.; Mira Mesa Recreation Center, 8575 New Salem St.; City Heights Recreation Center, 3777 44th St., and Encanto Recreation Center, 6508 Wunderlin Ave.

Gollehon said registration for lessons will be held at each pool at 8:30 a.m. on a first come, first served basis.