Recreation outdoor pool opens with a splash

Under the blue skies and a blue swim cap, Freeport Recreation Center member, Mary Legendre was finally able to begin swimming again in the pool located on East Merrick Road in Freeport last Monday. The pool is now officially open for the summer season and is preparing for hundreds of kids to come for camps and swimming lessons beginning next week.

“I’m most excited to get my own lane today,” Legendre said. “I try to come to the pool every morning to swim, and I always feel great after that. That’s the best part.”

The Olympic-sized swimming pool contains lanes for recreational swimming, a dive tank with diving boards and a kiddie pool, which is set to open this weekend. Victoria Dinielli, manager of the Freeport Recreation Center, said the pool will be open until mid-September, depending on the late summer weather.

“We try to stay open longer than most other private and municipal pools,” Dinielli said. “We get regular swimmers who come daily to do workouts, and a bunch of little kids, and they’ll enjoy it and appreciate it for as long as possible this season.”

This summer, the Freeport Recreation Center will be buzzing with its own 200 campers from Freeport, in addition to students from camps in surrounding towns. The pool is expected to be the hot spot to beat the Long Island heat.

“Next week this place will be hopping,” Dinelli said. “School will be out, camps will be starting up, and this place will look a whole lot different. Summer is a busy time for us.”

The pool basin was changed from white to blue, in order to liven up the facility’s grounds and “change it up a bit,” Dinelli added.

Dinielli also shared that in addition to the six and 12-month health wing membership plans, at the Recreation Center, there are summer membership plans available to all Freeport and non-Freeport residents. The half-day kiddie camp is still open for registration for ages three (by December 1) through kindergarten. That program includes swimming, sports, arts and crafts, and playground time.

For more information for camps and membership, visit freeportny.gov.