Westmount parents hold ‘swim-in’ to protest pool schedule

WESTMOUNT – Some parents are making waves over pool restrictions at the Westmount recreation centre.

A peaceful protest was staged Tuesday evening in opposition to adults-only swimming hours at the facility.

“Unfortunately, a petition, visits to city council, numerous emails and so on have not worked, so we’re trying something different this time,” said Angela Lehrer, who organized the swim-in.

“We’re trying to get as many families as possible to come, hang out and show support for what we call ‘share the pool.'”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We're trying to get as many families as possible to come, hang out and show support for what we call 'share the pool.'"

The current schedule at the pool has adult-swim three times a day, five days a week.

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The other two days, adults have two sessions alone.

Lehrer, a mother of three, said one of the issues she has is with the timing.

The evening adult-only swim at 6:30 p.m. falls at a time when many young families want to take their children to the pool.

“Demographics of Westmount are changing, and most people are dual-income families and they want to be here after work with their kids,” she said.

Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., when it was time for adult-only swim, kids stayed in the pool.

Lehrer explained it’s part of her “share the pool” concept.

She believes all adult-only times can be shared with children, with some restrictions.

But not everyone is on board with that idea.

“There’s less and less time for adults; it’s all becoming about families and kids and there’s a lot of people like myself that don’t have children,” said Westmount resident, Johanna Stosik.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "There's less and less time for adults; it's all becoming about families and kids and there's a lot of people like myself that don't have children," said Westmount resident, Johanna Stosik.

“So I think that it would be really nice to have no kids on deck every now and again – the way it’s always been because you could just kind of relax.”