Most summers bring kids opportunities to get out and enjoy physical activities in both official and recreational settings, but with the persistence of COVID-19, those opportunities have been harder to find in the summer of 2020.
Hard, but not impossible.
One option that remains for residents of the Verde Valley is the Camp Verde Heritage Pool. The pool reopened on June 13 and added lessons and classes at the beginning of July. Those will continue to be offered in August.
“Swimming is one of the very best ways to get kids active — and adults, too — outdoors and socially distanced,” pool supervisor Jodi Jato said. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that a properly chlorinated pool — and ours is checked every two hours — will not bring risk of spreading COVID.”
While the Heritage Pool is open, the challenges brought on by COVID do keep it from being business as usual. In addition to monitoring the chlorine levels of the pool — which is both on a fully automated system of chlorination and checked manually by the employees — a number of other safety procedures are in place.
This includes limiting the number of people in the pool to 33 — well down from the normal occupancy of 88. Masks are also worn when not in the water, and groups consisting of more than 10 people are divided into smaller groups. The cashiers sanitize areas that are commonly touched, and the pool is closed every two hours for a 30 minute period to allow time to clean and sanitize it.
Services offered in August will include water aerobics from 7 to 9 a.m. every Tuesday and Thursday, a week of teen lessons, running 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. from Monday, Aug. 10 through Friday, Aug. 14, and a free adult clinic on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Additionally, private lessons are also available for anyone hoping for a more concentrated
instruction.
“I think it’s a really good way to get the kids active,” Jato said. “Burn off a little bit of energy, learn how to be safe around water and enjoy physical exercise.”
Further information can be found at campverde.az.gov as well as the Camp Verde Parks and Recreation Facebook page.
