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South Gate Swim Stadium closed for repairs as aquatics programs report enrollment gains
Summary
The city’s aquatic supervisor said the Swim Stadium is closed for about a month for repairs even as swim programs recorded a 20% enrollment increase and more than 2,800 participants across offerings last year.
The Swim Stadium in South Gate is closed for about a month for repairs, Leslie Colesay, aquatic supervisor for the City of South Gate Parks and Recreation Department, told the commission on Sept. 11.
Colesay said the closure will occur during a peak season and staff are trying to “mitigate everything” while continuing a program expansion that drove a 20% increase in swim-program enrollment and more than 2,800 participants over the last year. “The big news right now is that the Swim Stadium is closed,” Colesay said.
The aquatics division reported full-capacity learn-to-swim sessions (group, private and semi-private lessons), growth in junior water polo, junior lifeguards, Surfing 101 and the Gator Swim Academy, and steady participation from partner organization Saskia Aqua Coalition. Colesay said swim teams (singled out as “Penguins Aquatic Club” and a Marlins practice group) logged roughly 250 hours of practice time for about 200 children this summer as expanded hours allowed more programs and classes.
The division hosted a two-day, last-chance qualifier swim meet — described by Colesay as a prestigious event — and for the first time ran an underwater Easter egg hunt plus a grass-area event that drew about 250 participants. Colesay said promotional events such as an Aqua Fitness Expo helped produce new memberships.
Commissioners asked which events serve as entry points for new participants; Colesay pointed to the Aqua Fitness Expo and open-house style programming as the primary outreach that has increased interest in lessons and memberships.
Colesay also described a staff mentorship and promotion pipeline. “We were able to promote about 6 of our staff into [senior lifeguard] positions,” she said.
The department announced a family Halloween event, Patty’s Pumpkin Pledge, scheduled Oct. 25 from 2 to 4 p.m., with a floating pumpkin patch hunt and trick-or-treating on the patio.
The commission received the aquatics report and voted to receive and file the department presentations as part of a bundled consent to file reports.
