HPER pools are closed until Monday for safety
The swimming pools in the Health Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) building were closed on Thursday due to possible health concerns. The pool is scheduled to reopen on Monday after the safety of the water can be assured, said Assistant Director of Campus Recreation Scott Wamsley.
Wamsley said one of the lifeguards working at the HPER pools who was feeling ill consulted a doctor and may have a cryptosporidium infection. Cryptosporidium is a microscopic parasite that may be transmitted through water infected by human or animal fecal matter and is resistant to chlorination, making it a significant health concern for public swimming pools.
The HPER pools will be closed over the weekend and chlorine levels will be increased to ensure any possible contamination is removed, Wamsley said.
“We don’t know where it was picked up, it could have been picked up from another pool, who knows? We just want to make sure that our pool is safe and ready to go,” Wamsley said.
All classes and programs scheduled from Thursday until Monday at the HPER pools have been canceled due to the closure. Particularly affected by the closure was the USU club swim team, which will miss three practices before its members leave for a national competition on Wednesday.
“We’re at a critical point in our workout sessions. It was inconvenient timing. It’s about the worst it could have been,” said JP Parrish, Campus Recreation events coordinator and swim team coach. Parrish said that while the team is frustrated, it agrees with the closure.
“It would be bad for us to get sick and carry it around and spread it to a national swim meet,” Parrish said.
A swimming clinic the team was planning for Thursday night was also canceled. The clinic was to be the fourth and final in a series of fundraising clinics planned to help cover the costs of the swim team going to the U.S. Masters Swimming Short Course Yards national championships in Mesa, Ariz.
“We were hoping for this to be one of our larger nights. It will impact us a little bit, but we’re going to have to just make do and forgo a few of the niceties of the trip,” Parrish said.
Other canceled events included open swim and lap swim sessions, university swimming classes, sessions of the wellness water aerobic programs for USU faculty members and Junior Aggie swim and dive team practices.
“I understand it’s frustrating for people, but our main concern with students, faculty and staff is that they be safe in anything that they do, whether it’s in our pool, or our play fields or our gyms or whatever,” Wamsley said.
The Outdoor Recreation Program (ORP) was unable to hold a kayak roll session scheduled for Thursday night because of the closure. Roll sessions, usually held weekly on Thursday nights, are for students and community members who want to learn and practice whitewater kayaking techniques. ORP Coordinator Brian Shirley said he understood the rationale behind the decision to close the pool. Students wishing to rent whitewater kayaks from the ORP may actually benefit from the closure, because the ORP will have time to inspect and prepare the rental kayaks for student use by Saturday, Shirley said.
– steve.kent@aggiemail.usu.edu