Firestone natatorium highlights year-round lessons, community access as board hears FAST update

Tina Loughrey, principal of Firestone CLC, told the Akron Public School Board on July 28 that the Firestone natatorium supports varsity and community swim programs year-round, including the Firestone Area Swim Team (FAST) lessons, adult classes and Red Cross lifeguard certification.

Loughrey said the district’s natatorium hosts the Firestone varsity and junior varsity teams, FAST club practices that serve swimmers from age 4 through the collegiate level, and off-season and summer programs. “We only have one week left to go, but when spring break rolls around next year and you start to get hot, think of us — swim lessons,” Loughrey said.

The update explained how the program and the pool are staffed and run. Coach Cindy Bridal and assistant coach Carl Shallenberger (introduced by Loughrey) handle coaching, pool-chemistry and safety oversight; Loughrey said pool-deck cleaning and pool-chemistry require specific training and are performed by natatorium staff rather than general janitorial crews. She added that many seasonal staff are college and high‑school students who work one or two days a week, so hiring is recurring each year.

Nut graf: The presentation emphasized community access and safety: the natatorium runs the FAST swim academy for children, adult learn-to-swim classes, adult Sunday swim and lifeguard certification, and it partners with community organizations such as the LeBron James Family Foundation and the I Promise School for a Nike Learn-to-Swim camp.

Board members asked for participation numbers and clarifications. When Member Autry asked how many children take lessons in a summer, Loughrey said the Nike I Promise camp had about 110 participants this year and the swim academy served roughly 150 children over the summer. Loughrey said FAST is a 501(c)(3) organization that runs lessons and the swim academy; she supplied the contact email firestoneninja@gmail.com for community members seeking information.

Board members also pressed on whether students from other district high schools can join Firestone’s varsity swim team. Loughrey said students sometimes join under open-enrollment or club arrangements; she described past cases where students from Ellet, Garfield and other schools competed with Firestone. Loughrey noted competitive‑division differences (Firestone competes in Division I) can affect schedules and potential coaching needs. Board members requested written clarification of the Ohio High School Athletic Association routing and eligibility rules; staff said they would provide formal language from the district’s athletics office.

Loughrey described partnerships and programming the natatorium has hosted this year: the I Promise/Nike Learn-to-Swim camp, synchronized swimming activities, cardboard-boat races for middle- and high-school engineering classes, and athletic-trainer partnerships with Akron Children’s Hospital for recovery workouts. She also noted FAST and the varsity program have run community service drives (Project RISE sock drive) and received a Lake Erie Swimming community service award.

Ending: The board did not vote on funding during the presentation. Staff said they would provide follow-up data (exact counts of visiting students, numbers from open-enrollment swimmers and written OHSAA guidance) and asked members to share any additional questions. The district encouraged community members to contact the natatorium for program details and registration.