Table of Contents
Aided by friends, family, and of course hot chocolate and donuts, a group of brave volunteers on April 13 embarked in a polar plunge at Shannon Beach by Mystic Lake in Winchester.
With Winchester residents of all ages, from children to WHS Swim Team members, and even the bravest of retirees, surely there must have been some greater cause motivating all of these people from all different walks of life beyond simply proving their bravery.
And in fact, there was: to make swimming more accessible in Winchester for all ages and experience levels.
The organizers of the polar plunge, Swim Winchester (a volunteer-run nonprofit organization), have an extensive history within the town pushing open the wonderful benefits of swimming to the whole community.
The organization sprang up around 1972, when Winchester High School was built in the location it is now. Originally set to be built equipped with a swimming facility, the pool component of the contract was axed, motivating a few dissatisfied Winchester residents to begin advocating for the local swimming complex that was denied from them.
Several decades later, the recent renovation of WHS done in 2018 served as an opportune time to ramp up the advocacy for a swimming complex. However, state law had changed by that point, and policy didn’t allow a concurrent construction of a pool with the renovation of the high school.
Indeed, Swim Winchester’s dream of a local and accessible swimming complex hasn’t come without resistance and pushback over the years.
Caroline Shamu, formerly vice-president and now president of Swim Winchester, reiterated the organization’s belief that such a facility would drastically change the lives of Winchester residents.
Of the communities that stand to gain from the plan, the WHS Swimming team is certainly one of the most notable. Hoping to benefit from a more local and flexible location to hold practices, they’ve made presentations to select boards and the school committees to turn this plan into a reality.
“It would offer more flexibility and waking up that early can be detrimental to high schoolers’ health. It can be bad for academics,” said Kaylee Guo, a freshman and competitor on the WHS Girls Swim Team.
Reiterating the stance of his sister, WHS Boys Swim Team captain Ethan Guo shared his observation that “the sport isn’t popular due to the 5 a.m. practices and it would give people an opportunity to work swimming into their schedules other than one of the worst times in the day. It would help build the team.”
Currently left with no other option but to hold morning practices at the Boys & Girls Club at 5 in the morning, having a local swimming facility would allow the team to hold afternoon practices, making swimming a more convenient sport for WHS students to participate in.
Winchester residents turned out April 13 for the Polar Plunge to support Swim Winchester. WINCHESTER NEWS STAFF PHOTOS/FRANK SITEMAN
The plan
Swim Winchester aims to work with local government to build an indoor all-season swimming facility in Winchester — an eight-lane, 25-yard competition pool equipped with a large, warm water recreational pool, bleachers and lesson observation areas, a fitness space with exercise machines, a multi-purpose event and meeting room, a welcoming lobby area, and an outdoor patio for summer use.
The organization hopes to build this facility on the northeast corner of Skillings Field. In doing so, they hope to offer competitive swimmers a place to train (lap swim), but ample opportunity for swimming instruction for youth and aerobics classes for adults and senior citizens.
Additionally, by placing the facility close to WHS, it is positioned in the heart of Winchester and close to parking space.
How to help
Though a grant from local and state government will be necessary to ultimately fund the project, Swim Winchester has also looked to private contributors (not commercial partners).
Specifically, they are looking for donations from community members and fundraising help from outside groups such as club swim teams and physical therapy groups who would benefit from being able to hold water therapy sessions.
However, as of the date of this article’s publication, they have no firm partnerships yet.
Swim Winchester is also taking pledges right now for people to commit to donate money to helping build the facility. So far, they have raised over $3 million, which demonstrates the magnitude of enthusiasm that exists behind the project.
For those looking to get involved, a ton of information can be found on swimwinchester.org, and as the organization aims to hold more community events similar to the polar plunge (such as a potential water balloon fight during the summer), there are plenty of ways for people to get involved.
Additionally, as always, petitioning local officials is a simple yet tremendously effective way for citizens to get their ideas turned into action.
