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<\/p>\nMayor Ken Sim is calling for free swimming lessons for every non-swimmer in the city of Vancouver, a review of aquatic infrastructure, and a return to \u201cpre-COVID-19 operational hours\u201d and drop-in access to Kits pool.<\/p>\n
Sim has introduced a motion calling for universal access to basic swimming lessons and an expansion of aquatic infrastructure as a matter of \u201ccore public safety policy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The motion calls for city staff to work with the Vancouver park board to implement free access to beginner levels of swimming lessons, and explore partnerships with the Vancouver school board, community organizations and senior governments. He wants a report in 2027 on pool infrastructure and capacity potential.<\/p>\n
Phil Skinder, director and head coach of the Pacific Lifesaving Club, applauded the mayor for recognizing basic swimming ability as a core public safety issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cSwimming is not simply recreation. In a coastal city like Vancouver, it is a life-saving skill,\u201d said Skinder. He called the motion \u201cone of the most positive public conversations we\u2019ve seen around aquatic access in many years,\u201d and especially supports the proposed exploration of partnership with Vancouver schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been actively advocating for exactly this type of collaborative approach and have already completed much of the groundwork,\u201d said Skinder. \u201cWe also know that if children do not learn to swim by the end of elementary school, many never fully acquire those skills later in life.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Phil Skinder (second from right) from the Pacific Lifesaving Club with students at Jericho Beach in Vancouver.<\/p>\n
The motion also calls for the parks board to update the VanSplash aquatics strategy, a 25-year plan to guide the renewal, design, and development of indoor\/outdoor pools, spray parks, and beaches in the city of Vancouver, that focuses on a shift away from small neighbourhood pools to larger destination facilities that offer leisure, wellness and fitness in one location. The last such facility built in Vancouver was Hillcrest, which opened in 2011.<\/p>\n
Since 1980, Vancouver has shut down many outdoor neighbourhood pools that provided free or low-cost recreation, including Sunset, Hastings-Sunrise, Marpole and Mount Pleasant.<\/p>\n
Vancouver has only five outdoor pools. By comparison, Montreal has 12 times as many such pools though its population is just over twice as large, while Toronto has 10 times as many outdoor pools with a population more than four times as large as that of the city of Vancouver.<\/p>\n
The proposed replacement of the Vancouver Aquatic Centre\u2019s aging 50-metre pool, key priority in the VanSplash plan, has been mired in controversy.<\/p>\n
The $175 million rebuild of its aging 50-metre pool was swapped out by the park board for a 25-metre pool and increased leisure space, citing financial and site constraints. A legal challenge is underway by the Protecting Our Vancouver Aquatic Centre Society.<\/p>\n
Park board commissioner Tom Digby was skeptical of Sim\u2019s motion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mayor doesn\u2019t give a timeline, so it appears to be a campaign pledge. Making promises with no funding attached to them is just going to lead to disappointment,\u201d said Digby.<\/p>\n
In a statement to Postmedia, Sim said he is directing staff to consider \u201cfuture costs through the city\u2019s regular operating budget and capital plan processes as part of upcoming budget cycles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Public swim advocate Jody Vance said the motion from Sim is too late.<\/p>\n
Vance has been vocal for several years about the loss of aquatic infrastructure in Vancouver, and the handling of Kits pool operations, which she says has become a \u201cwedge issue\u201d between the park board and the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan we please depoliticize this pool? An election is not until the fall. Just open the pool,\u201d said Vance, who relied on the pool as a key low-cost amenity while raising her child.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn entire generation of young people are missing out,\u201d said Vance.<\/p>\n
The aging beachside Kits pool, one of the few remaining outdoor pools in Vancouver, will not open until mid-June, while it undergoes maintenance and repairs.<\/p>\n
Although the park board is making changes this year to the restrictive reservation system at Kits Pool, which will allow drop in users that arrive after 4 p.m. to stay longer than the 2\u00bd-hour time-slots currently allotted to daytime users, it\u2019s not enough, said Vance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am blown away by the number of people who I have never met who come out of the blue to say, I\u2019m with you. Keep fighting. We have lost our way as a city to manage our public amenities.<\/p>\n