The closing forces Carrollwood Village's 20-year old swim team program to continue practices at three local pools.
By TERRY JONES
Published June 11, 2004
CARROLLWOOD - The old pool is no more.
Only concrete rubble lies around a large hole in the ground, where hundreds of youngsters over the past two decades have built an athletic tradition as part of the Carrollwood Village Swim Team.
The pool was last used on May 23, and then it was torn down.
The good news is, a state-of-the-art pool will replace it. The bad news is, it won't be finished until sometime this fall. So summer swimming programs for neighborhood kids in Carrollwood Village are down the drain for 2004.
The highly competitive Carrollwood Village Swim Team program is continuing, but the young athletes are having to travel to three different pools to train.
They're holding practices at Bobby Hicks pool in South Tampa, next to Robinson High School; the Waterchase residential private pool in North Hillsborough near Ed Radice Park; and Copeland Pool, located near the University of South Florida.
Why the change? Because new owners bought the Country Club of Carrollwood last year and are currently renovating itand building a new pool area. They also have renamed it the Emerald Greens Golf and Country Club at Carrollwood.
"Last fall, when we first started hearing rumors of a buyout of the club, we weren't sure of anything. We weren't sure we would have jobs or a place for the kids to swim," said Carrollwood Village Swim Team coach Jim Kelly.
"But the new owners have gone out of their way to accommodate the swimming program, and things are going to be much better than ever."
Kelly says the new pool will accommodate the swim team and club member activities simultaneously. He added that a "splash pool" - an activities area for children - will be included.
"We now have the capability to host large meets," Kelly said. "Carrollwood Village Swim Team will keep its name and separate identity. We have our own nonprofit tax status, which allows us to accept donations for the kids' travel and equipment."
During the past decade, Kelly has been so active in the administration of the Florida Swimming and USA Swimming groups, he actually missed meets of his teams to attend organization and rules meetings around the state and the nation.
However, he finished most of his obligations to the organizations in the past year and will be able to focus nearly all of his time to the spread-out activities of the team.
Because the swim team program will lose the summer programs for neighborhood kids this year, Kelly said the short-term results could be painful: Swimmers normally trained to move up into competition may not have the opportunity.
That will leave a gap in the program that Kelly said cannot be measured.
Still, "of course this is all worth it," Kelly said. "The new owners have been super and they are providing one of the most modern pool facilities in Florida. In the long term, this is the best thing to happen."
In the short term, the team is spread out.
The Gold, Silver and Bronze teams, or the younger swimmers, will practice at the city of Tampa-owned Copeland pool. Practice times are 3:30 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Also practicing at Copeland are the members of the Senior II team, or middle and senior high school swimmers still developing and competing. They practice from 6:30 to 8 a.m. and again from 4:30 to 6 p.m.
Members of the Senior I team, or the most advanced swimmers who compete in national meets, practice from 6:30 to 8 a.m. at Bobby Hicks and from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at Waterchase. The Bobby Hicks pool is also owned by the city of Tampa.
Kelly says the team pays rent to the city for use of the Copeland and Bobby Hicks pools and made another type of arrangement with officials at Waterchase.
"They are allowing us to use their pool until ours is completed," he said, "and in the fall we will help them to develop a swimming program."
