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Swim team shrinks leapfrogging pool to pool

Until a rebuilt home pool opens, swimmers struggle to get to practice and keep up overall club membership levels.

By AMBER MOBLEY
Published December 16, 2005

CARROLLWOOD - They're called the Carrollwood Village Swim Team at Emerald Greens, but since May 2004 the team's been swimming everywhere but the country club: the Jewish Community Center, Danny Del Rio pool and the city of Tampa-owned Copeland pool.

Membership has dropped "big time" since then, coach Jim Kelly said.

"We've gone from having 125 to 40 kids. . . . It's the travel. Going all over the place is the biggest thing that's affected membership," Kelly said.

The pool at Emerald Greens is under construction until spring, leaving the swim team without a home. The Danny Del Rio pool, 10208 N. Boulevard, had been a home away from home with the team regularly practicing there.

Then the heater broke.

The swim team is practicing at the Land O'Lakes Recreational Complex in Land O'Lakes until it's fixed, which shouldn't be long, Kelly said.

The team's mobility makes getting rides to swim practice hard, said Gina Mayer, 15, a student at Berkeley Preparatory School.

But Mayer, who's swum with the team since age 4, said, "I've been with this team for so many years that leaving isn't even an option."

Established in 1972, the Carrollwood Village Swim Team hasn't been displaced like this before, Kelly said. "At one point we were without a pool for a couple of months during the winter, but never like this."

But the temporary pains will be well worth the wait, Kelly said. "Membership will be right back up when we get the new pool," he said.

Due to open in April or May, the new facility will have a Junior Olympics-sized swimming pool, a "splash pad," a kind of water-based playground found at many amusement parks, and other amenities, said Michelle Cook, membership and marketing director for Emerald Greens.

The pool facility also will have new locker rooms and a sports court for basketball, badminton and volleyball.

"It's going to be beautiful," Kelly said. "It's not just a pool anymore."

Once complete, the pool facility will be the second recreational center to open at Emerald Greens. The last one opened in October.

[Last modified December 15, 2005, 10:05:12]