After tragic drowning, what could help kids learn water safety? New group has a plan
Gig Harbor, a city with water nearly everywhere, has no public swimming pool.
That’s a shame, and also a danger, says Heather Maher, co-founder of a group called Swim Safe Gig Harbor, which is campaigning to get one built.
“Our city, the ‘Maritime City,’ is surrounded by water, but yet families who live here struggle so much with finding places to teach our kids how to be safe in the water,” Maher said.
A recent drowning has added an urgency to the campaign.
“The drowning at Horseshoe Lake ... that is exactly what we are talking about,” Maher said. “I think about my own kids’ safety, and I want them to know what to do in the water and how to be safe.”
Will Huck, 18, drowned in the Kitsap County lake on June 28. Bystanders pulled the teen from the water and performed CPR, but were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at Tacoma hospital. There were no lifeguards on duty at the lake.
A public aquatic facility would be a place to teach children how to be safe in the water, said Maher, who was dismayed to find there is no place to take her two children, a son who is almost 8 and a daughter who is almost 5, to support them in swimming.
“My first motivation is always to my kids, I want them to be safe,” she said.
Maher is 34 and a full-time mom. She grew up in North California, moved to Gig Harbor in 2009, and has lived here ever since.
Group drew 500 members
She posted on Facebook about the lack of a pool, and that led to a Facebook group that now has 500-plus members and counting. The group says it “exists to advocate for a public aquatics facility in Gig Harbor, WA in response to the water safety needs of our growing community” and “prioritize water safety in the Gig Harbor community for generations to come.”
The closest public swimming pool to Gig Harbor is the South Kitsap Community Pool in Port Orchard. Across the bridge, there are also pools in University Place — the Curtis Aquatic Center — and Fircrest, which has a municipal pool.
There are some private swimming lessons available in the area. Amanda Beard, a former Olympic medalist, offers basic swim lessons for very young children and coaching in competitive swimming for older ones at the Beard Swim Company in Gig Harbor.
There are pools at both Peninsula and Gig Harbor High Schools, which are used by some community groups, such as the Narrows Swim Club and the Narrows Aquatics Association, as well as school athletes. The pools have been open to the public for lessons and lap swims in the past, although they have been closed during the pandemic.
There is a pool at the Tom Taylor Family YMCA in Gig Harbor, which also offers lessons and lap swims, but requires membership.
Thinking 5 years out
Maher sees a demand for another facility to keep up with the growth of the Gig Harbor area in recent years.
Her group wants to ensure that there are “affordable swim lessons for all ages and financial backgrounds” for future generations as growth continues.
“We’re thinking 5 to 6 years out,” Maher said. “It would be both for my kids and all kids of Gig Harbor; everybody needs it.”
On Tuesday, July 7, the group took their message to a PenMet Parks meeting, where they spoke about the need for a community pool. In an email following the meeting, board President Amanda Babich said she supports community members “willing to put together a grassroots effort to work with public agencies and better our community.”
“We are a community surrounded by water and so I feel a discussion about aquatic facilities and opportunities is appropriate.” Babich wrote.
However, she made it clear it might be a long haul.
PenMet is a maybe
Babich noted that “PenMet has several undeveloped properties that need to go through a master planning process. The planning process includes extensive public engagement, feasibility studies, and data gathering. All of that critical information will help guide PenMet into development of our parks that reflect our growing community’s needs.”
PenMet is currently engaged in building a $22 million indoor recreation center on the site of a former pro golf range in Gig Harbor. Slated for completion in 2023, the 58,200-square-foot building will contain an indoor soccer field, three basketball courts and nine pickleball courts — but no pool.
And bigtime aquatic centers do not come cheap. The Weyerhaueser Aquatic Center in Federal Way, for instance, cost $18.8 million. Port Angeles paid $16.5 million for a slightly more modest affair. The South Kitsap School District paid $5.6 million last year just for repairs and upgrades to the Port Orchard community pool.
For Maher, the meeting was a first step in what may be a long road ahead to see her dream of an aquatic center become a reality. However, she says her group is prepared to put in the work.
“We understand the uphill battle we are facing, but our team is in it for the long haul,” she said. “The fact that our group has grown so quickly speaks so much to the great need Gig Harbor has for a public aquatic center.”
This story was originally published July 8, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
