Too cool for the pool? Not in York, where the water is warm

YORK, Neb. (KLKN) — With summer break here, many are ready to beat the heat at a community pool.

“It’s always like the birthday party for the community,” said Cheree Folts, director of the York Parks and Recreation Department. “They circle it on their calendars.”

But the cooler, wet weather has kept lifeguards out of chairs and swimmers out of the water in many places.

Lincoln’s pools have delayed their opening twice and are now set to open on Wednesday, if the weather allows.

It’s a similar story in Crete, Holdrege and other cities.

But the York Family Aquatic Center is bucking the trend.

It opened its doors on Monday but had to close them shortly after.

Folts said despite the pool having many eager swimmers, it was just too unsafe.

“There was actually a line at 1 o’clock,” she said. “We were supposed to be open until 4:50, and we had to close at 3:50, mostly because the air temperature was 52 degrees. It was freezing for my lifeguards and for the public. The water was nice and warm, but those safety rigs were very cold.”

The pool is heated, allowing it to reopen on Tuesday, though staff were keeping a close eye on the sky.

And with a chance of warm weather this weekend, Folts said staff are expecting a huge turnout.

“A cool thing about York is the location, so we have people from all over the community, the county and even across the state come to our pool,” she said. “So when we’re open on the weekends, we get everybody here and it’s such a fun time.”

One of the lifeguards this summer, Benjamin Otoupal, said he is staying positive for the season.

“It’s always exciting those first couple of days, opening days to have a whole bunch of people out here,” he said. “Have those couple of really fun days before we get into the full swing of summer. But at the same time, with it being cold like this, it’s kind of nice because it’s a slow start. We’re looking forward to jumping right on into it.”