Swim school reopens city pools spared from budget ax

Swim lessons, it turns out, can be a two-lane pool.

Take for example, Portal Pool, the city-owned outdoor pool at 3535 N. Hancock Ave. where about 15 parents and their kids turned out for a free introductory swimming lesson Saturday.

Portal is one of three community pools that survived budget cuts recently when the Colorado Springs Swim School signed a five-year agreement to operate Portal, Wilson Ranch and the Aquatic Fitness Center at Memorial Park.

The school’s owners stepped up when Colorado Springs officials announced plans to mothball all of its municipal swimming pools.

“We needed to do something,” said Kevin Dessart, who co-owns the school with his wife Tina. “We can’t let this happen.”

The school plans to begin lessons at Portal and Wilson Ranch next week. They plan to re-open the Aquatic Center in September. On Saturday, they held a free get-acquainted session to two groups of children. One of the kids was 11-year-old Shelby Johnson.

Shelby had a few more challenges than the 30 other kids in the pool. She’s deaf. She’s a dwarf. And she has an adenoid problem. Her mom Felicia Johnson explained that when her daughter breaths in water through her nose, it creates a burning sensation in her throat.

While the other kids were splashing away, Shelby stayed mostly in one shallow corner of the reverse L-shaped pool with her two instructors, Rebecca Nevin, 17 and Keaton Roark, 16, helped her acclimate to the water. Her mom sat poolside, interspersing the lesson with some sign language.

Felicia Johnson said her daughter likes being in the water, but is afraid when she's not hanging onto someone or something. She watched as Shelby's instructors got her comfortable with just dunking her head under the water.

Shelby can lip read, her mom explained, but she can’t wear her ear implants in the water, so she could not hear anything. Nevin and Roark adapted with a combination of body language and encouragement.

After a few minutes, they convinced Shelby to lean back and float while they held her steady.

“That right there is a huge improvement,” Felicia Johnson said. “She loves being in the water, but she doesn’t like to let go of her safety.”

Her instructors gave her a thumbs-up sign. Shelby in turn taught her instructors something: two words in sign language.

“This means underwater,” Nevin said, gesturing with her hands. “And this means standing up.”

“She is absolutely amazing,” Nevin added. “She did really good.”

In addition to public swim hours, Colorado Springs Swim School is offering a number of programs. For more information go to www.csswimschool.com or call 719-282-8874.