Making a splash: water sports at yosemite pool

Credit: Flurida 

Summer at Yosemite Pool:

During the school year, Yosemite Pool serves as a place for the community to swim and spend time with friends, as well as a hub for all of Eagle Rock High School's water teams and activities. But over the summer it takes on a new life. The pool is full of people, from opening all the way until closing at 8:00. And the pool is not just full of families and groups of friends having fun, but also a slew of aquatic sports. From late June to early August, kids and teenagers flock to this summer hotspot to play waterpolo, be a junior lifeguard, join the swim team, or even try out synchronized swimming. Yosemite offers an abundance of aquatic sports, through the PlayLa aquatics program, that allow you to learn valuable skills and gain new experiences.

Water Polo:

The summer water polo program at Yosemite Pool is the perfect opportunity to try out water polo, and also just to get some extra summer practice. It is coached by Yosemite's own lifeguards, who offer experience and lots of helpful advice. I participated this summer and the last one, and while both years I did it, waterpolo had been relatively new to me, I can say that I have improved immensely just from playing on the Yosemite team. It is co-ed, and normally has around three games per summer. While I did not attend any games, they are normally low stress situations, and opportunities to learn more about the sport, and get practice playing. Of the two games that were played this summer Yosemite won their second, and ended the season on a high note.

Synchronized swimming:

While synchronized swimming may be a niche sport, synchro at Yosemite is definitely a good thing to have on your radar. I recommend this as an opportunity to improve your swimming and maybe even discover something you love. While this team is smaller than most of the others, it is the perfect chance to get specialized training, have fun, and make lifelong friends. I actually do synchronized swimming outside of PlayLa but it was definitely fun to get some extra practice. Throughout the summer Yosemite Pool participated in two of the three synchronized swimming competitions that were offered. They competed as a duet and a solo performance, and while I didn’t compete, I did have a lot of fun watching all the performances. In their final competition Yosemite pool placed 7th for their duet but third for their solo.

Credit: competitor swim

Swim team:

The Yosemite swim team is a great way to bring your swimming abilities to the next level. Unlike the other teams they practice all year round, and their dedication shows! Throughout the summer season they had many competitions and had 6 swimmers place top 5 overall. I have been on the swim team for a long time and it has been a great experience, the coaches are really nice, and I have learned so much. The swim team is coached by one of Yosemite Pool’s own lifeguards, Nicholas Chaidez (Nick for short) who has coached Water Polo as well as swim team. He claims that while some people hate the strange dimensions he loves how the pool's length allows his swimmers to swim longer distances in the wide side of the pool.

Junior lifeguard:

Out of all of the aquatic sports at Yosemite, I have to say junior lifeguard has been my favorite. I have loved learning lots of new useful skills, as well as preparing for a possible future job as a lifeguard. The junior lifeguards of Yosemite have several competitions throughout the year where they compete in various relays that test their skills. Some of these include relays while holding a watermelon, throwing ring buoys to fellow lifeguards, and racing while inside of an inner tube. As junior lifeguard Zoe Pettry said, “We learned so many important skills, while still having fun.” In the final competition of the season, Yosemite Pool placed top three in all events, proving that hard work and dedication pay off.

The community at Yosemite Pool is also one of the best around, and while you will get a serious workout, every one is very chill. When asked what his favorite thing about coaching the swim team is, lifeguard and coach Nick replied that he loves messing with people, “I just be rage bating the swimmers,” he claims. 

So whether you're interested in joining the swim team, spending your summer days playing water polo, trying out synchronized swimming, or even becoming a lifeguard, Yosemite Pool has something for you. I participated in all of these aquatic programs over the summer and I made friends, exercised, had fun, and filled my summer months with meaningful activities. If you are a confident swimmer, or just looking to try something new, I recommend Yosemite Pool’s aquatic programs to help make your summer into an experience you’ll remember.