VENTURA : Department Puts Kids In the Swim

Class was more than half over Thursday by the time 6-year-old Britney McMurray very tentatively edged away from the side of the Ventura High School swimming pool.

It was just her third day of swimming lessons, and Britney, clad in a lavender swimsuit, was still hesitant to submerge her torso, much less her head.

She is one of 30 students enrolled in the Ventura Park and Recreation Department’s inaugural summer swimming program, provided free to low-income children ages 6 to 12. Students are mainly residents of the Ventura Avenue area, who frequent the Westpark Community Center and the Westview Village Recreation Program.

Instruction is divided into a pair of two-week sessions, the first one ending July 16, the second running July 19 to 30.

For Britney, her first step away from land was a big one. By the end of the 40-minute session, she was navigating the length of the pool, kicking, moving her arms and blowing bubbles, with the aid of an instructor.

Like many of the children in the program, Britney had never had lessons before. After class, she told what she liked most about her pool experience. “The shallow end,” she said.

“Basically, they are just kids like you’d meet across town, they just don’t have the money or the resources to pay for these programs,” said Roberta Payan, director of the Westpark Community Center. “These are kids who wouldn’t otherwise have an opportunity for swimming lessons.”

To cover costs, Payan said, the park department raised $750, most coming from city employees.

Six-year-old Christian Chavez was also a swimming novice. He was apprehensive about the deeper waters, and was even more uncomfortable with the thought of climbing up on the springboard.

“I don’t want to go over there. I’m not going over there,” he told instructor Ben Nelsen, who was herding the class over to the board.

“Maybe with me?” asked Nelsen.

“No, no, no, no,” said Christian. “I’m too little.”

Nelsen ultimately accompanied a trembling Christian to the edge of the springboard so he could see what things looked like below.

Raquel Pacheco, 8, an experienced swimmer, was having an easier time of it. “I had lessons at the YMCA,” she said, “but it costed too much.”

Jose Rivera expressed similar sentiment, as he watched his two sons, Benji, 7, and Danny, 6, splash around in the water.

“It’s fortunate to have this program because we can’t afford lessons,” he said. “It’s really beautiful to see the kids doing what they enjoy. . . . Every day they wake up and ask, ‘Is it time to go to swimming lessons?’ ”