An All-Wet Proposal

Would Janet Evans, the swimmer who won three gold medals in the 1988 Olympics, be where she is today if the pool in which she trained for so many years had not been open year-round?

Possible future champions may not be so lucky. The Fullerton Community Services Department is considering budget cuts that would include closing Independence Park pool--the only 50-meter pool in Orange County--for several winter months.

Independence pool is the year-round training facility for FAST (Fullerton Aquatic Swim Team), the group with which Janet Evans trained. According to the coach, Don Wagner, FAST presently has about 200 members, many of whom are minority and disadvantaged youth, among its Olympic hopefuls.

The pool is also the site, year-round, of various swim meets and water polo practices and games. And at midday, year-round, the pool is used by numerous lap swimmers. They include employees of local businesses who swim on their lunch hour and senior and disabled persons exercising in a safe environment.

Independence Park pool is too valuable a resource to be closed, even for a time. Let Fullerton Community Services Department and the Fullerton City Council know that Independence Park pool needs to remain a year-round facility, one that serves so many residents and the future Olympians so well!

VIRGINIA NEAL

Fullerton