The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 108, No. 18 - May 2, 2019
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................14
Classifieds..........................13
Crossword/Sudoku...........13
Entertainment....................14
Legals............................ 11,12
Letters...................................3
Pets......................................16
Real Estate.....................7-10
School Spotlight..................6
Sports.............................. 6,15
Weekend
Forecast
A New Engine, Thanks to Chevron
El Segundo Fire Chief Chris Donovan and crew receive fire engine donation check from Chevron General Manager Henry Kusch and Chevron Manager of Policy and Public Affairs Rod Spackman.
See article on page 3 for more details. Photo: Robert Cetl, El Segundo TV/Media Services
A Day in the Life of the New Pool
By Brian Simon
It was 5 a.m. on Monday, April 29, pitch
dark with no semblance of sun expected in
sight for over an hour. Most of us with even
semi-normal schedules were still sound asleep,
at least an hour or two away from coffee and
not yet ready to welcome in the new workweek.
But at that pre-dawn moment, staff had
already convened at the City of El Segundo
Wiseburn Unified School District Aquatics
Center (Aquatics Center) to prep for opening.
Three lifeguards, a senior lifeguard and a cashier
were raring to go to begin the morning ritual,
or what Recreation Coordinator Linnea Palmer
refers to as “opening procedures.” This entails
pulling 16 covers off the 10-lane, 53-meter
pool, setting up pace clocks and turning on
the scoreboard.
The first groups began shuffling in shortly
before 5:45 a.m. They included members of
Southern California Aquatics (SCAQ), the
largest masters swimming program in the
country with a strong El Segundo component;
and Tower 26, which specializes in triathlon
swim training. They used the pool until 8
a.m. and 7 a.m. respectively. Water and Deep
Water Aerobics classes took place between
7:30 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. Tower 26 returned to
use the pool between 11:30 and 12:45 p.m.,
with SCAQ masters swimming another hour
between noon and 1 p.m.
With schools and clubs taking up the lion’s
share of afternoon and evening time, the mornings
present the most opportunities for different
groups and individual users to grab some pool
space. “We are getting quite a few regulars and
new people calling and stopping in,” Palmer
noted. “Each day, we are getting busier and
busier, so I expect a crowd come summertime.
We have been able to host quite a few swim
meets, including league finals and prelims for
high school, the first Los Angeles Junior Lifeguard
test and our first CIF water polo game.”
Meanwhile getting back to this past Monday,
the City continued to provide the constant
staffing of three lifeguards, a senior lifeguard
and cashier at all times throughout the day and
evening (with replacements as shifts changed).
The lifeguards oversaw both the competition
and smaller instructional pool and made sure
to maintain the proper chemical mixes. The
“mid-day” procedures included pulling out
50-meter lane lines, moving two bulkheads to
mid-pool length and putting in 18 25-yard lane
lines. Mid-programming operations required
staff to pull all 18 lines out for water polo,
attach water polo goals to the bulkheads, and
pull out flags.
By the afternoon, specific groups began to
utilize their designated time slots. First up was
El Segundo High swim practice from 2 to 5
p.m. The Wiseburn-Da Vinci seminar swim
class followed from 3 to 4 p.m., with the
Wiseburn-Da Vinci High swim team practice
going from 4 to 6 p.m. The joint-use agreement
for the facility guarantees each of the school
districts three hours of weekday use during
these desired hours.
With the high schools eventually filtering
out of the pool, the Alpha Aquatics swim club
enjoyed two hours of time (5 to 7 p.m.), with
Beach Cities Swim Club taking two hours from
6 to 8 p.m. The South Bay United Water Polo
Club, amenable to off-peak hours, practiced
from 7:15 to 9:15 p.m.
With the Aquatics Center wrapping up for the
day, staff embarked on “closing procedures.”
Palmer said the process includes “putting
18 lane lines back in, putting away all pace
clocks, putting away the water polo equipment,
and putting back on the 16 pool covers.” The
pool covers are critical in keeping the water
temperature and chemicals stable, while also
reducing maintenance costs associated with
heating the pool or replacing evaporated water.
While most days are not totally predictable,
the tasks noted above are certainly part of a
necessary routine. Meanwhile, the Aquatics
Center’s popularity continues to grow. “We
have sold 266 memberships since we have
been open,” Palmer reported. “Since selling
the memberships, 2,320 check-ins have been
done during our drop-in hours using passes.”
The facility has seen 1,074 adult, 220 youth
and 132 senior drop-in visits. All this since
early January.
With so much attention on the new facility,
what’s the latest news on the longstanding Urho
Saari Swim Stadium (The Plunge)? According
to Recreation and Parks Director Meredith Petit,
staff is in the midst of preparing a Request
for Proposal (RFP) to solicit qualified aquatic
design firms to compete a Scope Assessment
and Feasibility Study towards which the El
Segundo City Council had allocated $100,000
this year. “The study will reveal renovation
options for the City to consider, which will
be based on community feedback, a technical
review and condition assessment of the facility
and programming goals,” Petit said. “Now that
the Aquatics Center is up and running, we need
to better define the role of The Plunge to meet
the needs of the community. This study will
likely commence in August/September of this
year and take about six months to complete.”
To get the financial ball rolling, El Segundo
Unified School District has committed to help
fund about a quarter of the renovation costs
(up to $1 million). Richard Lundquist and
the South Bay Sports Health and Recreation
nonprofit (instrumental in raising additional
monies towards the Aquatics Center) also
pledged to help raise funds. •
Friday
Partly
Cloudy
65˚/57˚
Saturday
Partly
Cloudy
64˚/56˚
Sunday
Mostly
Sunny
63˚/57˚