The planned closure at Swanson Pool is one of the most unpopular effects of the Fiscal Year 2006 budget, and my office has been working with the University City community to develop a solution. ” Scott Peters
Councilman Peters held a press conference at Swanson Pool adjacent to Standley Recreation Center on Saturday, March 4, to reverse the closure of Swanson for three months due to city budget cuts. In a memorandum to Mayor Jerry Sanders, the City Council and other San Diego City leaders, Peters asked and got approval for $72,719 District 1-allotted Proposition 40 funds to restore ten weeks of operations at Swanson Pool, from March 5 to May 14. The pool will be closed from May 15 through June 11 for needed maintenance and repairs. Peters acknowledged that more than 2,000 people use Swanson Pool for recreation, swim lessons, and safety training every month.
One of those 2,000 is thrilled that the pool will stay open for the UC community. If you get to know Amanda Weinbrecht, a University City High School graduate who is a freshman on a full swimming scholarship at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), then you understand the importance of Swanson Pool in the neighborhood.
UC locals Amanda Weinbrecht and her mom Kim were delighted to hear Councilman Peters gave an 11th-hour reprieve to Swanson Pool. Amanda learned to swim competitively at Swanson when she took swim lessons in 1994, at age 6, with children her age. First, Amanda credits her grandparents for letting her learn her love of swimming in their UC backyard pool when she was only 3 years old, but then she credits Swanson for launching her successful swimming career. She picked well from the gene pool, too, since her dad Mark was drafted by the Boston Red Sox and played five years in the minors. Her mom Kim performed in the Ice Capades for five years.
Swanson provided more than swim lessons for talented kids. Amanda joined the competitive team, the Stingrays.
“Swanson got me to learn all the strokes, taught all the basics,” she said on her second day of spring break from UNLV. She’s come a long way from Swanson days where she enjoyed meeting a lot of neighborhood kids in swim lessons and became lifetime friends. Katy Griffiths was an excellent coach Amanda fondly remembers. Eventually Katy recognized Amanda’s swimming talent and encouraged her to move up to North Coast Aquatics, which now meets at the Jewish Community Center, where head coach Jeff Pease took over as Amanda’s coach.
Amanda is modest about her disciplined schedule when she swam for UC High. “I’d wake up at 4 a.m. or 4:45 a.m. and go to practice from 5 a.m. until 7 a.m., go to school, go home for a snack, then practice from 3 to around 5:30 p.m., do homework, eat dinner and then go to bed.”
Her hard work paid off with seven UCHS records: the CIF Division II record in the 100 backstroke; three-time All-American in 100 backstroke; three time all-section, two-time San Diego Union/Tribune All-Academic team member; three-time team MVP; and two-time team captain. In club work, Amanda has set Jr. Olympics record in 100 backstroke, finished 7th in 100 backstroke in 2004 Jr. Nationals, and qualified for 2004 U.S.Open and 2005 Jr. Nationals.
She picked UNLV because she said, “I liked the team, the coaching, and it met Coach Pease’s standards during recruiting.” She still sees Jeff during her winter break. Her schedule at UNLV includes swimming at 6 a.m. and going to classes. In August she embarked on the cross training: running and weights. “I was pretty scrawny,” she said with a laugh, “but I’m bigger, buffer now.”
Swimming on a Division 1 team is an exciting adventure with Brigham Young University being UNLV’s rivalry and toughest competition. This year the UNLV women finished in third place and the men took first.
“It’s a lot of fun, and I’m not disappointed; it just wasn’t meant to be to win first place,” said Amanda, who has aspirations for participating in the Olympic trials in 2008.
Closing Swanson would definitely have put a damper on her successful career.
“I don’t think I would have succeeded in competition without Swanson,” Amanda reflected.
Her mom wanted to thank Scott Peters for finding the money to help another child realize her or his dream as a swimmer. Who knows if “another Amanda” is going to be swimming at Swanson sometime between March and June, and someday distinguishing herself or himself the way Amanda has? What if this child just found a lock on the pool gate?
There is an old Barry Goldwater saying: “A government big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away.” University City residents paid an extra assessment in the 1970s when Standley Park was built and many residents recently heeded the call for donations to keep Swanson open. One anonymous donor of $1,000 has never put a toe in the pool, but he wanted to make sure that UC swimmers didn’t lose the opportunity. University City is a neighborhood that loves its kids, and Councilman Peters did right by the community. Just ask Amanda.