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“We come here pretty often,” she said. “It gives them something to do. The lifeguards are also strict and I like that.”
The Gary T. Moses Municipal Swimming Pool has provided a place for Victorians to sit back, relax and splash for years, but it doesn’t happen by chance.
It takes many details coming together to form the splashy experience, said city recreation specialist Sandra Conley.
Water is obviously key to running any pool and, with approximately 250,000 gallons, the Victoria pool has plenty of it.
To keep things clean and safe to swim in, Conley said employees vacuum it twice a week.
Its filtration system is old, she said, but is among the best.
About 500 gallons of chlorine go into the pool a month, she said, which adds up to about $1,500 a month. The two drums of hypochloride solution the pool uses monthly adds up to about $356 a month.
Conley noted they’re paying more for the chemicals than they did in previous years, probably because of rising gas prices.
Chlorine used to cost about $2.19 per gallon, she said, while it costs about $3 a gallon now.
The lifeguards have also been affected by gas prices, Conley said, noting there seems to be fewer guards available each year.
Most lifeguards are teens whose parents make them pay for their own gas and car insurance, she said, and the added expenses make it more difficult to drive to work.
The 11 lifeguards the pool boasts are mostly college students home for the summer, Conley said.
Before they get their official start, they complete between 32 and 36 hours of instruction, she said, which includes CPR certification, lessons on the automated external defibrillator and lifeguard training.
An incentive program is available to draw people to the profession, Conley said. Victoria reimburses $70 of guards’ $135 instruction fees to those trained through the city.
Lisa Killebrew, 17, who is in her third year as a lifeguard, said she chose the job because she’s a swimmer.
“I’m always at the pool anyway, so I figured I might as well be productive. It’s fun.”
Rescues don’t happen every day, but she said they’re more common when students from daycares come to play.
“It happens mostly on the slides,” she said. “The water’s four feet there and they think it’s much shallower.”
About 170 people visit the pool on weekdays, Conley said, while weekends bring in a little more than 300 people.
One final element goes into keeping life at the pool happy and calm: food.
While soft drink machines have always been available, a snack bar behind the desk is a new addition that began Tuesday.
Bags of chips, candy and beef jerky are available for $1 each.
“We just thought it would be a good idea,” Conley said. “Sometimes parents will drop off their kids for the day and won’t pack snacks or food.”
Rodriguez’s son and nephews will most likely buy up some of the merchandise throughout the summer, but not on Tuesday.
The fidgety foursome huddled around Rodriguez at a picnic table, where she had packed a few necessities of her own: turkey and cheese sandwiches, juice and pizza bagels.
“I like to bring something for when they get hungry,” she said.
Allison Miles is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact her at 361-580-6511 or amiles@vicad.com.