As COVID-19 restrictions continue to be lifted, places that have been closed since March are slowly beginning to open again. One of those venues is the Sedona Community Pool, which reopened its doors on Monday, June 8.
A number of restrictions remain in place at the pool. Swimmers must have their temperatures taken before entering the pool area. Additionally, lap swimming is all that is presently allowed, and the number of people who can be in the pool at one time is greatly reduced.
Despite the restrictions in place, lifeguard Dan Morse said that the pool’s first week of being reopened was “amazing.”
“Everybody’s been so happy to come back,” Morse said. “It was a tough couple of months for everybody. But nobody’s been coming back and complaining. We’re restricted and everybody understands that, which is good. Everybody understands the restrictions and guidelines we’re following and they’re just so happy to have the pool back that it’s been such a good atmosphere.”
The pool has also been reopened to the Sedona Swordfish Swim Team, which Morse is also the head coach of. Morse noted that prior to the reopening, the older swimmers on the team hadn’t been in the pool since March, while many of the younger swimmers had been out of the water for nine months. Because of that, he was initially concerned that they’d have to go back to square one of training. Fortunately for Morse, those fears were largely proven unfounded.
There are new swimmers to the team, as well. One of them, 13-year-old Witten Armstrong from Rimrock, said that he joined because he wants to be a triathlete.
“I’ve been running and mountain biking,” Armstrong said. “But I haven’t done the swimming.”
Other new faces in the pool are people who would normally be swimming
for the Cottonwood Clippers. Since their season was canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions, they joined the Swordfish.
It was an option that they were happy to have available to them.
“We were kind of disappointed when Clippers didn’t happen,” said 12-year-old Camden Stockbridge of Cottonwood. “But we found out that this was still open and the pool was heated, which is amazing.”
“It feels good,” 13-year-old Mitchell Gordon from Clarkdale said. “I’ve really been missing the swim team. Swim team is one of the things I look forward to in summer.”
More services will be offered at the pool if and when additional restrictions
are lifted.
But whether it’s been team members or individual lap swimmers, Morse has been pleased by the attitude that the community has had in the pool’s first week of being reopened.
“Everybody’s been really happy and it’s been a positive experience this first week,” Morse said. “I’m happy everybody’s understanding because it’s been pretty tense around the whole world the last few months. So we weren’t sure if people would come back and complain about all of the guidelines and restrictions that we’re trying to follow. But everybody’s just been so happy to be back in the water.”
“We were creative in staying in shape,” he added. “But you can’t beat this. … You can really see how positive an experience this is for everybody from the young kids up to the adults, the masters [team members]. You can really see how positive an effect this has on everybody. It’s been really good to see that.”
