If you grew up in Drayton Valley you probably have at least some memories of the Park Valley Pool. From in-school swim lessons to out of school swim teams the Park Valley pool has played a huge part in many Drayton Valley childhoods. With the new pool expected to open late next year, it’s a good time to look back at what the old one has given us.
When the Park Valley Pool had its grand opening in 1985 Lynette Nienaber was there to witness it all. Nienaber started as a lifeguard at the pool and nine years later was promoted to manager, a role in which she spent the next 25 years. She would rather not say she “worked” at the pool for 34 years but rather “served the community.”
“It was a healthy active lifestyle and it was the centre of the community. There were so many wonderful programs and the school swimming lessons. We taught children from Drayton Valley as far north as Wildwood and as far east as Wetaskiwin.” Nienaber says.
Nienaber began her time at the Park Valley Pool working the evening shift, she came from about 25 minutes away and that is where she got to befriend staff and really get to know Drayton Valley.
New pool could mean new events
“That was really the pulse of it, being on the deck. And that was my favorite teaching aquacise, synchro just having that community connection was so valuable,” she says.
The pool hosts up to 52 events per year. Some of Nienaber’s favourites were the water shows that the synchronized swimming club put on, the splash dances when the lights were turned down and the halloween events where the hot tub area was converted into a haunted house.
Nienaber is optimistic about the new pool’s opening and sees tons of potential for it that the Park Valley Pool may not have been able to achieve.
“With the eight lanes they could host provincial championships. So bigger swim competitions would be nice to see for that facility… The facility could bring a lot of tourism to the area and a lot of competitions to the area,” she says.
Neinaber adds that Drayton Valley’s paralympic swimmer Amber Thomas was never seen competing by the community as the Park Valley Pool did not have the proper size or viewing areas. Some athletes coming out of Drayton Valley even had to leave town for better facilities.
To Nienaber, serving the community through the pool was an honour. She is now grateful for the opportunity to see so many of the kids she taught become adults.
“I’m lucky because I was able to do what I was passionate about doing. I think it’s hard work too but it’s important to do something in life that you enjoy.”
Junior Lifeguard Club a hit
Des Jansen has worked at the pool for 23 years and created the Junior Lifeguard Club.
“We needed something different here so I kind of looked around and I found Junior Lifeguard Club and thought ‘hey at the pool we could run this program’ and thought maybe we could get future lifeguards out of it and teach them some lifesaving skills.”
From there the club went into more of a competitive club and Jansen has even traveled to Australia and France to coach the program internationally.
Jansen couldn’t pick just one favourite event lifeguarding at the pool for 23 years saying “It’s all been good. I don’t think I would work here for 23 years if it wasn’t fun and changing constantly, ever changing everyday keeps me on my toes.”
Jansen has also coached swimming lessons and advanced training lessons for lifeguards. Jansen has enjoyed the experience of seeing kids she taught swimming all grown up.
“People who have been here before bring their children back and so I see the kids who I taught swimming lessons to and now they’re bringing their kids in it’s like oh my i’ve been here a while,” she says.
Jansen looks forward to seeing what the new pool will bring for the Junior Lifeguard Club. “We will be able to bring back our competitions here. We always run a competition as a club but we’ve had to run it out of the tri leisure centre so being able to run a swim meet in our hometown is going to be exciting.”
Amber Herle is a lifeguard at the Park Valley Pool and has been swimming there pretty much her whole life. The pool has provided Herle with tons of childhood memories and now a career. “[The pool] was really the main thing to do in Drayton Valley, after school I think we pretty much lived at the pool. It was a big hit growing up; every evening if you could you were at the pool so it definitely meant a lot,” she says
Herle was involved in the Neptunes Swim Club and Junior Lifeguard club and even had a brief stint in water polo. Herle has loved the opportunity to meet tons of new people through the pool and make a career out of it doing what she loves.
Teaching the community kids how to swim like lifeguards has been extremely rewarding, she says. “It makes me feel super accomplished when you can get a kid to blow bubbles that hates the water or make a kid jump in the deep end who is terrified to do that, so it makes you feel pretty good.”
Herle looks forward to what the new pool will be able to offer future generations of Drayton Valley swimmers. “I am excited for all the new opportunities the pool will be able to have and then hopefully have it be a new attraction so communities other than Drayton Valley will be able to come in and enjoy it rather than having to drive all the way to the city,” she says.
Paralympian reflects on her old training grounds
Paralympic swimmer Amber Thomas began swimming at the Park Valley Pool at the age of four. Thomas says her favourite memories were summer swim meets with Neptune Swim Club.
“The old pool was small and it was hot but it was so much fun being a part of the summer club and having all the other clubs packed into our little pool and being able to socialize with all the other kids and compete. Our pool was probably one of the smaller ones compared to all the other clubs but there was just something about being at home. We always used to empty the hot tub and we’d spend a couple days before the meet just emptying the hot tub and cleaning it out and that was our spot because we were the home team… I look back on all those weekends and they were some of my favourites.”
Thomas recalls always loving the weekend events the pool hosted, specifically recalling renting the pool for her tenth birthday right after losing her sight and “penny swim”. “The penny dive swim was always fun. We’d grab out little plastic baggies and dive in and collect as many pennies as we could.”
Being such a high calibre athlete Thomas did have to go out of town quite often to train. With the lane pool being connected to the kiddie pool the pool would get way too warm making Thomas’s heart rate at times way higher than what is healthy.
“Trying to train in a 30 degree pool I had my heart rate up over 240 and you’re not supposed to have your heart rate that high. Because it was so hot I’d be doing sets and I’d take my heart rate and I’d be like yep, 230,.” she says.
Despite its challenges the pool will always have a place in Thomas’s heart. “That pool was our home and I probably spent more time there as a kid than anywhere else and it definitely was just very home for me.”
For so many Drayton Valley youth, the Park Valley Pool has been a way to have fun, meet friends and get out of the house. There have been lifeguards and coaches at the pool that Drayton Valley youth will never forget and who have taught kids so much more than just how to kick with your legs straight and back float. From its big green slide, tarzan rope and beach mural, the pool will forever be in the memory of many. So as we prepare to say goodbye to a building that helped raise many, here’s to old memories and new opportunities in the next coming months.
