News

Support Our Swimmers seeks to stoke interest in community pool

By Lightning Reports, Published: September 20, 2024

Support Our Swimmers (SOS) invites the community to attend a “Pool Party” to celebrate World Swim Day from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26th, at The Buzz, 225 S. Grove St.

An international event, the World Swim Day encourages people around the world to be safe and active in the water. The local SOS "Pool Party" aims to stoke interest in a year-round swimming complex in Henderson County. 

The event begins with a meet-and-greet social hour at noon. A program featuring Olympic medal winner Katharine Berkoff, joining by Zoom from Raleigh, will start at 1 p.m. Berkoff, who swims for N.C. State University, will give a short talk about what it takes to become an Olympic swimmer and explain why she thinks a swim complex is important to build. Berkoff, the bronze medal winner in the 100-meter backstroke in the Paris Olympics, is sympathetic to the SOS cause. She grew up in a small town where she had to travel to find adequate places to practice, 

Also on the Pool Party program will be testimonials by Henderson County residents speaking about their swimming experiences and the lack of current facilities. Attendees can sign up for the SOS email list and buy a raffle ticket to win a basket full of swim-related goodies. The Buzz will have lunch items and drinks available for purchase.

Support Our Swimmers, known as SOS, includes members with mutual interest in water-related activities. The volunteers first came together in January of 2024 as a study group of Henderson County Parks & Recreation to assess the swim needs of a broad range of locals and tourists. Since then, they have visited several nearby year-round swimming complexes in Western North Carolina and are convinced there is a real need to build one here.

“I grew up swimming, and was a competitive swimmer until my late teens ” SOS chair Katie Breckheimer said. “Swimming is a life skill for all ages; and a year-round swimming complex would provide incredible benefits for those who live here now, as well as those who will join our growing population in the future.”

SOS believes that swimming is for everyone, and wants to spread awareness about its benefits, as well as the multitude of needs we have for pool access. The swim needs include a facility for lap swimming, water exercise, aquatic therapy, learn-to-swim lessons for all ages, canoe/kayak safety classes and a practice/competition place for high school as well as Masters swim teams.

For questions contact SOS at soshcnc@gmail.com