By Shannon Lukens.
The Steamboat Springs Swim Team is losing their training pool at the end of the summer. The lap pool is being torn out for a new lap pool at Old Town Hot Springs. The lap pool was built in the 1960s and updated in the 1980s. It is too shallow in parts to have a swim meet or diving blocks for competition.
The swimmers will have nowhere to go after Labor Day, for about nine months. Many have college aspirations in swimming and they won’t have anywhere to train.
Tyler Stone (on the right) is a junior at Steamboat Springs High School.
“Missing this means missing college opportunities. To me, that’s not as much of a big deal because I wasn’t going for that. But for a lot of these other kids, it is important to them. It sucks that they’re going to lose a lot of opportunities that they may have gotten from this. A lot of these kids are my friends and I don’t want them to end up suffering. They really want this for a lot of them and some of them might not get to do it because of this.”
Stovin Briggs is a sophomore at SSHS.
“The pool going away is a big issue for us because we’re swimmers and it’s crucial for what we do. Swimming is a huge part of my life. The community here is really awesome and it’s a really great team.
The higher level swim team kids are hoping to find a lap pool somewhere in Steamboat Springs, where they can practice next winter. Sandy Bourn’s daughter, Zoe, has been swimming for seven years.
“These kids train so hard in rough conditions. They are outside seven days a week, in the snow, the blocks have snow on them. They’re competing against the kids in Denver. They want to continue. They want to work hard. They want to swim in college.”
Zoe (on the left) and eight others have qualified for the highly prestigious Silver States competition.
“It’s kind of a worse nightmare situation for me because I already dedicated so much of my time to swimming right now. I just can’t really imagine going from 12 hours a week to nothing.
The team is hoping someone somewhere in the community can let them use a lap pool. Charlie Coates is the Head Coach.
“I just need a pool. I don’t need it for seven days a week. I just need a couple hours in the water. Nine months without a pool is going to be super hard for some of these guys. I’m just asking the Steamboat community for help.”
It’s less than ten kids. They need a pool for a couple of hours a day, either before school or after, for about five days a week. It could be a private lap pool that is 25 yards, either at a home or a hotel. The families are prepared to help with upkeep, if needed. Each swimmer is insured through USA Swimming.
Heather Sloop is one of the swim team parents.
“I feel like this is taking away people’s dreams. And these kids deserve to have every aspect of their dreams fulfilled. If they have the capacity, and the drive and the stamina to continue to swim, they should be able to swim and this community should be able to find a place for them to do that.”
Right now, three of the Steamboat swimmers are on the Moffat County Girls Swim Team. The Steamboat girls practice in Steamboat and the Bulldogs practice in Meeker because Craig no longer has a lap pool. The State Championships this weekend. There is a sendoff at 9 a.m. Thursday at Moffat County High School.
Here are a few more comments from some of the kids on the Steamboat Springs Swim Team. Anna Richmond is in 9th grade.
“For me, swimming has always been a part of my life. It’s been a good outlet. I’ve made so many close friendships from it. If I’m ever having a tough time at home or at school, it’s just like a good break from the world. And I can come here and it brings me happiness and joy.”
Evie Gruben is in 9th grade.
“Swimming is a great way for me to keep my physical self healthy and my mental health because I have a bunch of friends in it and it always makes my day better.”
If you can help, or if you have an idea of a lap pool the kids can use, please contact Head Coach Charlie Coates at ccoates@oldtownhotsprings.org