No crowd limit, no lessons
By Greg Seubert
Swimming lessons aren’t being offered this summer at the Weyauwega Swim Lake.
However, that doesn’t mean the popular swimming destination in the city’s community park is off limits.
“We’re open and business has been good,” said Tim Potratz, who runs the city-operated outdoor pool. “We opened on June 18 and there was going to be a 50-person limit. About three days before we opened, they lifted the restriction on the number of people. We generally run 70 to 80 people a day coming to the pool if the weather is nice.”
COVID-19 has caused several communities around the state to close their indoor and outdoor pools, according to Potratz.
“A lot of the facilities around the state are closed because of COVID-19,” he said. “I would say about half of the outdoor facilities and very few of the indoor facilities are open.”
No lessons this year
The biggest change at the swim lake this summer is the decision to not offer swimming lessons.
“They don’t want physical contact,” Potratz said. “If you have a group of six or seven kids, the kids are swarmed around the guard while they’re helping them with their stroke or floating. Kids are splashing and talking and that’s what they’re trying to avoid.
“The only time we would have any contact with a patron is if we had to go in the water and do a save,” he said. “That wasn’t even a county recommendation, that came right from the Red Cross.”
The swim lake does not have a maximum crowd limit.
“Yesterday, we had 80 people and as many as 50 or 60 at a time,” Potratz said. “People stayed spread out. We’re making sure to do everything we can because I think it’s a situation where if something came up, that would be the end of it for the summer. I don’t think people are going to mess around with taking any unnecessary chances.”
Plenty of room
The swim lake’s size means there’s plenty of room to spread out, Potratz said.
“The facility is so big,” he said. “You have the kids by the diving board and the little toddlers are in the shallow end by the parents. In the middle, you get the people that bring their floaties and just want to float around or kids playing keep-away with a volleyball. There’s enough room for people to do all the different things they want to do.”
The swim lake is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
“People have been cooped up and some of the activities that kids have been involved in are maybe not available,” Potratz said. “What we’ve seen more of is Mom, Dad and three kids coming in and staying for a longer period of time. In talking to people at the pool, they’re really happy to have something available where they can go and do something.”
City officials discussed whether the swim lake would open this year.
“There was discussion at the city and then we had to go to the city council and get permission to open there,” Potratz said. “Then, it was a matter of waiting and getting all the guidelines from the state, Red Cross and CDC. When they gave the OK to open, we opened.”
Daily fees for City of Weyauwega residents range from $2 for kids and senior citizens to $3 for adults. Nonresidents pay $1 more and season passes are also available.
“For people here in the city, it’s just one thing that’s their normal summer routine,” Potratz said. “People aren’t going camping as much as they used to, they aren’t taking trips.
“We’ve had people coming in that are camping at Yogi Bear, where they do not have the pool open,” he said. “They load them up, bring them swimming for a couple hours and go back.
“We had people the other day that came in at 11:30 in the morning and didn’t leave until 4 or 5 in the afternoon,” he said. “We’re benefitting a little by being the only game in town.”