With sustained humidity and high summer temperatures finally hitting New Canaan, locals are flocking to Waveny Pool. The pool opened for the summer season on Memorial Day weekend and judging by the crowds, locals are loving it.
Recreation Director Steve Benko said the pool has been very busy. Speaking about the storm Sunday, Benko said, “It was over by quarter to three, and by three fifteen people were lining up outside the pool to go swimming.”
The Waveny Pool facility features a 50-meter pool, a kiddie pool for young children and a pavilion. A variety of activities and programs are also held at the pool.
“We try to do an activity every day, relay races, sharks and minnows, Simon says… we’ve also worked with the library – they’ve come here to do a reading thing on a Monday and Tuesday,” Benko said. The pool also hosts swim meets, with about 70 to 75 kids in the swim team, he said.
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing for the pool this year, according to Benko.
“It was a tough winter because we never got that really cold [weather],” said Benko. “It got warm… and it allowed the algae to grow. We don’t filter the water, [or] treat it in the winter time so we just had a mat of algae. We had to vacuum up the pool… The weather didn’t help in May and June.”
Asked whether he thought this kind of issue would be a problem in coming years due to the impact of climate change, Benko said he hoped not.
“We’re looking forward to a good safe summer. The water’s great,” he said.
Local residents are enthusiastic about the pool, too. As at 8:30 am on July 1, Benko said that the pool has sold 702 family passes, 147 individual passes, 69 nanny passes and 141 senior passes.
Local mother Sabrina Ericson said that she and her family have been coming to the pool “every summer” for eight years, since her now-10-year-old son was a baby.
“It’s a great family spot, the pool is really nice, the people are nice,” she said, “We love it here.”
Nancy Busak, another New Canaan woman who on Monday was sitting poolside working on a Sudoku puzzle, said that her family has been coming to the pool for “a long time…probably 10 years.”
When asked what keeps them coming back, Busak said, “We love to bring our grandchildren. We spend a lot of time here with them—in the water. So our kids love to come, we love to come, and it’s a well-run place.”