Swimmers pool their support for Mount Rainier facility

DES MOINES — They are separated by more than eight decades, but Ariana Kukors and Faith Callahan share a passion about the Mount Rainier swimming pool and a conviction to help keep it open.

Kukors, a 20-year-old Auburn Mountainview graduate who competed at Washington before the program folded, credits her training at the pool the last seven years for helping her shatter the world record and earn a gold medal in the women's 200-meter individual medley in July at the World Swimming Championships in Rome.

"This pool has been so important to the success I've had," said Kukors, who began swimming at age 5. "It's absolutely an amazing facility. It is absolutely crucial that this pool stays alive."

Callahan, who turned 105 last week, says her three-day-a-week regiment of water aerobics at the pool has been a key to her longevity.

"It's kept me active and I really believe that's why I'm still here and in good health," she said.

Kukors, who now trains in California, made a special trip home to be part of a "Save Our Swimming" (SOS) rally at the pool this month. Both she and Callahan, who is legally blind, were honored by Des Moines mayor Robert Scheckler during the ceremony.

The pool, located on the Southwest corner of Mount Rainier High School's campus, is funded by a variety of sources, including the cities of Des Moines and Normandy Park as well as the Highline School District. But that funding dries up at the end of 2009, and without other resources the pool faces closure. That's same fate of the pool at Evergreen High School in White Center, which closed its doors at the end of August.

The SOS committee isn't giving up without a fight and was instrumental in putting Proposition 1 before the Des Moines voters in the this election, which closes Nov. 3. If passed, the measure would create a Des Moines Pool Metropolitan Park District to be governed by a five-member board of commissioners elected at-large and levy an annual property tax of 20 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation.

That comes to $56 a year for an average Des Moines home of $280,000.

Additionally, there a measure before Normandy Park voters, also labeled Proposition 1, that would contribute toward the Mount Rainier Pool.

The Mount Rainier Pool was built in 1975 through funds from a long-term King County tax plan established in 1968 to erect a variety of parks and pools. When King County discontinued the plan a few years ago, communities and school districts were left trying to keep the pools afloat. The Juanita pool nearly closed earlier this year before being taken over by WAVE Aquatics, an Eastside-based age group swimming organization.

Many of the pools need updating. Mount Rainier will require about $2.5 million in repairs over the next 10 years, according to pool manager Ken Spencer, who is also a coach with the highly successful King Aquatic Club that uses the facility.

"The pool is near the end of its service life without major renovations," he said, noting a new liner and pumps are needed.

The facility operates on what Spencer calls a "shoestring" budget that requires about $100,000 in subsidiary funds, in addition to the $260,000 revenue the pool brings in with programs and rental fees. During the winter, it costs about $10,000 to $12,000 per month just to heat the pool, he said.

Since the Evergreen pool closed, Mount Rainier is the only one in the Highline School District. High-school girls teams from Highline and Tyee train and compete at Mount Rainier, while Evergreen swimmers are at the Tukwila pool, along with Foster and Kennedy.

The boys season begins next month and runs into February. It is unclear what will happen to Highline School District teams if the Mount Rainier pool closes at the end of December. Whitewater Aquatics, a year-round swim program, is negotiating with King County to take over and reopen the Evergreen pool, possibly as early as Jan. 1.

But Spencer is confident Proposition 1 will pass in Des Moines.

"I believe the community thinks that this will be a better place with this facility," he said. "This is something the community needs. In a city that bills itself as 'The Waterland City', it's ironic we're considering closing the one place where people can learn how to swim."

Since the beginning of October, more than 100 volunteers have gone door-to-door asking 4,000 registered voters for support.

"The response has been overwhelmingly supportive," Spencer said.

Kukors, who hopes to qualify for the 2012 Olympics, said keeping the pool open is important for swimmers of all ages.

"A 5-year-old can dream in this pool, and a 105-year-old can dream in this pool," she said. "This is where the dream began for me."

Sandy Ringer: 206-718-1512 or sringer@seattletimes.com