Summer in New Canaan just wouldn’t feel right without Waveny Pool open and filled to the brim with local and non-resident families alike.
Lifeguard Brooke Holland working at Waveny Pool. Credit: Eva Pace
In preparation for this year’s season, which once again is seeing an uptick in interest among new users, Waveny Pool concentrated on maintenance of the facility, according to Recreation Director Steve Benko.
Both pool heaters are active and working, Benko said, the locker rooms have been entirely re-painted and wood re-stained.
The town-owned and -operated facility’s strongest client base tends to be families, but they generally don’t think about buying passes until summer weather comes along, according to Benko.
“We’ve finally seemed to turn a corner from crummy spring weather,” he said.
Waveny Pool opens its gates for Summer 2018. Credit: Eva Pace
While the pool season only began on Memorial Day weekend, it is already starting to see a number of eager residents buying passes.
Lifeguard Brooke Holland worked the weekend, where she was happy with the family presence at the pool.
“Memorial Day weekend is always a big weekend for us so that was great this year,” she said. “It brought in a lot of families, and you can just tell that people are excited to come back to Waveny this summer.”
Benko said he’s seen a rush of pass-purchasing in the past week. “It was crazy, the weather was super nice so every day people were calling up to buy passes,” Benko said.
Holland noted a change in staff this year, with a flush of younger guards joining the crew.
“We have a lot of new guards, more than I’ve ever seen before,” she said. “A lot of the guards last year were older so now they’re either off on internship or have different jobs.”
The pool is finally starting to see an upward transition in clients after the bad economy—which opened the waiting lists at many private clubs—had families abandoning memberships at Waveny, Benko said.
“We lost a lot of members to private clubs,” he said. “But last year we saw a nice amount roll in, about 700 New Canaan and 100 non-residential, and we expect the same this year.”
With school students still occupied with after-school athletics, pool season still hasn’t quite kicked into full gear, but there are high hopes for the season according to Benko.
Waveny Pool is currently on an abbreviated schedule, from 12-7 each day because school is still in session. Members can look forward to regular hours, 11-8, beginning next week.
“We have a lot of support, and we’re looking forward to a successful season,” he said.
[Correction: A sentence detailing nonresident passes sold was removed.]