Essex pool opens to public, offers COVID-modified swimming classes

If you're looking to cool off this summer by taking a dip in a pool, there's only one public pool currently open in all of Windsor-Essex — the one offered at Essex Recreation Complex.

The Town of Essex opened its indoor pool on July 6 after being closed for nearly four months, and is offering COVID-modified swimming classes.

Cynthia Cakebread, the manager of Recreation & Culture for the Town of Essex, says she's seen a growing interest in people wanting to come back and swim.

"It was important for us to open. We knew that people wanted to get back into the pool. We knew that we had to look at a way to get them in," she said. "They were itching to get back and we wanted to make sure that we provided the types of programs that they were looking for and that we did it in a safe way."

Instructors now wear face shields, teach outside of the water and class sizes have been reduced to 3 students per instructor.

Cakebread said children who are under level swimmer 3 at the centre must have a parent or guardian in their home bubble participating in the water with them, while children who are at level swimmer 4 or higher can swim independently with coaching and instruction from the deck.  

She also said the number of swimmers in the pool and lessons being taught have been reduced, with only 10 to 15 lessons running in a week. 

"We've gone from running a session with seven or eight instructors at a time with anywhere from four to 10 kids in a class down to a maximum of two instructors with three kids in each class at the most," Cakebread said.

"We've gone from close to 70 kids in the pool down to six." 

Despite these changes, long-time participants Isabel Newton and Mariyka Robson still think it's fun to swim in the pool and were excited to see classes open up again.

"It's different because the teacher can't come in the water with you and ... help you with all of it. It's different than before, but it's not bad," Newton said, adding that she hopes the swim team she's on returns soon.

Robson said she was sad when the pool closed back in March.

"I knew it would be tough getting back in shape," she said, adding that she enjoys the small class sizes and feels safer this way.

Tammy I'Anson's children take part in the centre's Youth Lane Swim program.

"In terms of the way that Essex has set it up, it seems very safe. They come dressed in their swimsuits. They wear their masks and they do their lengths. They put their masks on and they walk back to the car. So, right now I'm not overly concerned," she said.

"Maybe in winter months when there's more interaction with the facility, I might be more concerned, but I'm hoping by then we'll be past the worst of it."

The pool opened around the time an aquatic safety expert advocated for Windsor-Essex to re-open its pools and beaches to ensure that when people do swim, they can stay safe and have lifeguard supervision.

Since then, a young child in Amherstburg died from drowning.

Cakebread stressed the importance of swimming lessons and safe pool operations, adding that swimming is an essential life skill.

The centre offers life-saving swimming classes where instructors teach students how to save someone from drowning.

Cakebread said they're looking into expanding their class sizes and bringing instructors back into the pool while still practicing physical distancing.

Seeing familiar faces return

She also says that the region is ready to move to Stage 3, but is fine with remaining at Stage 2 because "we're still able to provide a good array of programming and ... it's really a nice buffer time for us to evaluate what we're doing, what we're doing well and what we can do even more to enhance as we go forward."

Cakebread said it's wonderful to see the familiar faces return to the pool. 

"We're really quite happy with how things have been turning out. People have been very good about following the rules and new rules that we've put in place. We've had really good reception with our users and a real uptick in the number of bookings and times that are being used," Cakebread said. 

"We've missed the people that were here. They've missed us."