By Andrew Coakley
FN Sports Editor
Anyone working out at the YMCA Fitness Centre between the hours of 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. and they would see a familar sight of kids walking single-file, hands on each other's shoulders, making their way to the grounds surrounding the YMCA swimming pool.
Seemingly every hour on the hour, kids from various primary schools are bused in to the YMCA for regular swimming lessons by certified swimming instructors.
For some people, the influx of so many kids on a daily basis may be overwhelming, but for Karon Johnson, Executive Director and swimming instructor and Marvin Johnson, cetified swimming instructor, the constant barrage of kids is only a sign that things are returning to normal at the YMCA.
The YMCA swimming pool is new and improved and already, the masses of Grand Bahamians (particularly kids) are benefitting from the recent renovations that took place at the popular swimming pool.
"The pool has gone under major renovations," said Johnson, Executive Director of the YMCA.
"We've implemented a number of tasks that once completed would make the pool look like brand-new."
And spanking new is how it looks.
The work included draining the entire pool, scraping the bottom and sides of the pool, making repairs to minor cracks and removing old lighting fixtures.
There has also been a stall built over the starters' blocks, which has been painted to give the pool a competitive feel.
In fact, Johnson said that the idea was to prepare the pool to host major swimming championships as well as host out of town elite swimmers, who sometimes come to The Bahamas during the winter months, looking for a warm place to train.
The YMCA hosted Olympic swimmers before, but that was before they had acquired their new heaters and so many of the swimmers still did not train as long as they would have if the pool was properly heated.
It was not long after that the 'Y' received a generous donation of two new heaters for the pool.
With these in place and with the renovations completed, the YMCA is ready again to become the popular place to learn how to swim.
Once the newly renovated pool was refilled with water, it took on a new feel.
The water looks inviting and the crystal clear water and the red and white lane dividers tempts one to just jump in.
Of course, with fencing surrounding the pool, one cannot "just jump in" unless supervised or authorised by the instructors.
"Our Learn to Swim Programme is up and running again and just about everyday we have kids coming in here on a regular basis from schools around the island to take part in our learn to swim programme," said Johnson.
"Our swim timetable is more than full and that was before the pool even got back up and running.
"The reason that people are calling is because they know that the product is a good one and that our instructors undergo severe training on a regular basis.
"We place kids in groups based on their abilities."
The school programme has become so successful that even when it rained "cats and dogs" last week, the kids who were dropped off during the times the weather abated, were disappointed when they had to come out of the pool because of the heavy rains.
Many just stood by the glass door and watched as the rain dropped its own water into the pool.
Johnson said that she's happy to have the pool back up and running and is looking forward to hosting swimming competitions at the YMCA pool.
