Dive on in: YMCA, some school pools reopening this week

EVERETT — Local pools began opening this week after Gov. Jay Inslee modified requirements to allow limited activity at public and private lap pools.

The Snohomish Aquatic Center opened Monday, with YMCA pools and some others to follow.

To open, facilities are required to follow strict procedures that include enforcing social distancing, asking guests to wear personal protective equipment when out of the water and screening employees for symptoms of COVID-19.

Recreational pools such as water parks, lazy rivers and splash pads will remain closed.

YMCA

Gyms won’t open until Phase 3 — Snohomish County is now in Phase 2 — but the YMCA is opening pools throughout Snohomish County starting Tuesday.

Pools at the Everett, Marysville, Mill Creek, Monroe, Mukilteo, and Stanwood-Camano facilities will be open Tuesdays through Fridays from 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon.

Those hours could expand if the lanes fill up, spokesperson Donny Willeto said.

There’s a limit of two people per lane, and lap time is by reservation only. Make a reservation through the YMCA mobile app or by calling your local branch.

The pools will only be open to active YMCA members ages 14 and older.

Those who had memberships paused can call their branch to reactivate.

In Everett, the city has a partnership with the Y for pool use. City residents can pay a day-use fee to reserve lane space.

Face masks are encouraged in common areas like the lobby but are not required in the pool area. Locker rooms are open, with physical distancing required.

Willeto encourages swimmers to bring their own water bottles since water fountains are closed. Touchless bottle refill stations remain open.

All waterslides will remain closed, and water toys won’t be available. Swimmers need to bring their own life vests, kick boards and pull buoys.

Public facilities

• The Forest Park Swim Center will not open in 2020, Everett spokesperson Kimberley Cline said.

The pool is a casualty of $3.4 million in emergency budget reductions approved in April.

“The reductions focused on programs and services that we weren’t allowed during the ‘Stay Home, Stay Healthy,’” Cline said in an email. “The swim center fell under that category and will remain closed for the year.”

It’s too soon to determine if the pool will reopen in 2021, she said.

• The McCollum Park Pool in Everett is also closed for the summer.

• The Mountlake Terrace Pool will remain closed until Phase 3 begins.

School pools

• The competition pool at the Snohomish Aquatic Center opened Monday and is open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. 9 p.m., and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.

All guests must check in and check out at the front desk. Swimmers will enter the pool through the locker room, or directly from the lobby, and exit through the competition pool door.

Masks are required while in the building, but not in the pool.

Each lane will have a one-person limit, and every swimmer is allowed one hour of pool time. Members from the same household can share a lane.

Lanes can be reserved up to five days in advance by calling 360-568-8030.

Lockers and showers will not be available during Phase 2.

Swimmers can set their bags on pool deck benches while they do laps. Pool equipment is not available, and all swim lessons and water fitness classes are cancelled until further notice.

• The Marysville Pilchuck High School pool will stay closed for now, district spokesperson Jodi Runyon said. But the district is considering a phased-in approach, which would open the pool first to swim teams and then to the public.

“It will not likely open to the general public in the first phase but possibly to swim teams,” Runyon said in an email. “More discussion is needed before a final decision and plans are made.”

• In Lake Stevens, communications director Jayme Taylor said, the school district is working on a plan to reopen the Lake Stevens School District Pool. There’s no timeline yet, she said.

• Pools in the Mukilteo School District won’t open until Phase 3, spokesperson Diane Bradford said.

Julia-Grace Sanders: 425-339-3439; jgsanders@heraldnet.com.