Westsyde Pool packed for free swim on opening day

Sep 8, 2017 | 6:28 PM

KAMLOOPS — It was a free for all at the new Westsyde Pool on Friday with a free swim for the whole community, and it appeared all of Westsyde was in the pool they haven’t had in two years. 

The pool was shut down in June 2015 for much-needed repairs, but starting at 2 p.m. the pool officially re-opened to the public. It’s something these kids have waited to do in Westsyde for a long time.

“It was a really long time without it,” said one pool user. 

“It felt like a really long wait, and I felt like we kept having to wait, saying it was coming, then it just took that much longer, which made it harder to wait for,” said another Westsyde resident. 

The kids raced to the pool after school for a chance to try the new pool and their flips off the diving board. The bright new facility wowed pretty well everyone who visited on day one. 

“The pool’s amazing because you can just come here with friends, grab a few dollars, just come here. You don’t have to go all the way out to Brock or all the way up to Canada Games Pool. It’s just way better.”

Another resident noted “it’s a lot bigger, which is nice, and I think once everybody goes, it’ll be nice because there won’t be as many people here.”

Many of the kids and parents say they’re going to use the pool a lot more in the future. 

“It’s good for families, you can have a lot more fun here. They don’t have to drive all the way to Brock and way up to the TCC.”