Besides beating the heat, the benefits of being in the pool can last a lifetime
It's summertime and the swimming is easy. What's not to love about a dip in the pool especially as the temperatures climb into the 90s and the humidity best be called swampy?
And there is a lot to like about hitting the pool.
According to the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, water-based exercise improves mental health. Swimming can improve mood in both men and women.
Water-based exercise even can improve the health of mothers and their unborn children, the CDC said.
Swimming for at least an hour can burn upwards of 500 calories while working every muscle without causing strain on your body, according to Medical Daily, a health website run by the International Business Times.
Corrie Jones has been reaping the benefits of swimming all her life.
Jones has been the swim coach at Penn Valley Athletic Club, 6135 Monroe Road, in Penn Township for 18 years.
Jones said she has been swimming since she was 15 and went on to be a member of the Westminster College swim team.
Her daughter, Katelyn, who serves as an assistant coach for the Penn Valley swim team, will be a senior on the Westminster swim team and her younger daughter, Abby, was a swimmer at Knoch High School and plans to go to Westminster when she graduates.
Corrie Jones said she learned from Butler County swim legend the late Pump McLaughlin.
“He was the guru of all area swimming, He coached me at the Butler Y. He was a great mentor,” she said.
“He taught pretty much all of Butler County to swim,” Jones said of the famed coach who was involved in Butler YMCA swimming for 48 years.
And although the year hasn't reached the fabled dog days of August, swim team competition is already drawing to a close.
Karen Guise, the aquatics director at the Cranberry Township YMCA, said this was the first year for her Y to have a swim team.
“We had 43 turn out,” said Guise of a season that ends this weekend.
The swimmers were going up against bigger teams in the Y league but Guise believes the year laid the groundwork for future success.
It's a short swim season, Jones said, running from the day after Memorial Day to the third or forth week of July.
“It's short but a great program to introduce kids to the sport. In the summer it's more relaxed and meant to give them a taste of the sport,” she said.
“We try to keep the summer league fun and light. We don't want to burn them out,” she said.
Jones said Penn Valley's 95 swimmers are divided into two teams according to skill level.
The first group of less-proficient swimmers practices an hour a day, and the second group of more advanced swimmers practices two hours.
The two teams compete in four stroke competitions: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly, as well as a medley relay using all four strokes.
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Jones' teams compete against other clubs in the AK Valley Swim League, including the one from the South East Butler County Pool Association in Jefferson Township.SEBCO manager Michelle Conner said the 65-member swim team has been around nearly as long as the pool itself. SEBCO opened in 1967, and the swim team started three years later.One team they didn't face this summer was one from Alameda Pool.“The school year ran long because of (school district) consolidation,” said Ashley Helmstaedter, the aquatics manager at Alameda.“We had our parents' meeting in June and there were two weeks of school after that,” said Helmstaedter. Parents weren't able to contribute or commit their time.Parents' help is important, said Jen Griffith, president of the Penn Valley team. Parents serve as judges and timers, and staff the concession stands during meets.Griffith's daughter, Abbie, is in her seventh year on the team and her son, Drew, is in his sixth year.“We are pretty much here every day,” Griffith said.Griffith said, “Swimming is a great sport. It's going to be a lifelong sport for both my kids.”And the lure of the water seems a lifelong one for those concerned.Griffith said she has been going to Penn Valley since 1981. “When my kids got old enough, we joined the pool,” she said.Helmstaedter said she was head lifeguard at Alameda eight years ago.“I spent my summers at Alameda. I lived there. It was my favorite place,” she said.She came back three years ago to become its manager.Jones said, “I am around pools and kids nine to 10 months and 18 hours a day,” she said. “They teach me something different every day.”In the winter, Jones coaches the Knoch High School swim team in the morning, then teaches sixth-grade math at Butler Middle School and then coaches the Knoch swim team at its second daily practice.“I like to be outside. I deal with the same kids,” Jones said of her summer coaching. “Swimmers are very disciplined and self-motivating and I teach them that academics come first.”Coaches can't yell instructions or change strategy once the team is churning through the water, Jones said, so she stresses technique during practices.“I stress practicing the way you want to compete. You practice sloppy, you will compete sloppy. We want them swimming fast and correct,” she said.And, in light of recent drownings, Jones wants to see more water-safety awareness.“It's easily preventable. We teach them to say no to drugs and drinking and yes to bicycle helmets, but we don't teach them about water safety,” Jones said.Guise, whose facility offers lessons year-round, said, “Swim lessons are important for children whether they swim competitively or not, but as a life skill. Especially if they are around water, it will make kids feel safe."
