First pool dedicated to teaching adults to swim to open in Sarasota May 1

Public invited to free festivities at McIntosh Road facilities

Melon Dash. Contributed photo
Melon Dash. Contributed photo

The first pool ever dedicated to teaching adults to swim will open in Sarasota on May 1, a Sarasota-based nonprofit organization has announced.

The Miracle Swimming Pool, which formerly belonged to the Flanzer Jewish Community Center, is located at 582 McIntosh Road in Sarasota. Its renovation was made possible by a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign conducted in March by Miracle Swimming for Adults Inc. (MSA), a news release explains.

“A beautiful pool like this deserves to be revived and open to serve the community,” said Melon Dash, founder and CEO of MSA, in the release.

Festivities will be held on Sunday, May 1, from 1-5 p.m., to celebrate the opening of the pool. Free swimming, food, music, and a dedication at 2 p.m. will be open to the public, the release adds. Sarasota County Commissioner Carolyn Mason, a student of Miracle Swimming for Adults, will be among the speakers, the release notes.

After May 1, the complex, which consists of two pools — a six-lane, 25-meter pool and a 2-foot-deep pool — will be used almost exclusively for teaching classes for adults in beginning swimming, freestyle and pre-masters-swimming. MSA also will offer Teach Your Child to Swim and Swimming for Sinkers classes and swimming instruction for children and teens “to prevent them from becoming adults who are afraid in water,” the release says. Classes focused on backyard pool safety will be part of the program, too, the release notes.

“MSA espouses the ability of all parents to swim before their children,” the release adds. Therefore, the nonprofit organization also will offer classes for expecting parents.

Forty-six percent of American adults cannot swim, according to a 1998 Gallup Poll, the release points out.

MSA has provided full scholarships for lessons in Sarasota at the Robert L. Taylor Community Center and the Lee Wetherington Boys and Girls Club, as well as for parents at Girls Inc. of Sarasota, the release notes. In 2016, it will partner with The Salvation Army of Sarasota.

More than 50 instructors globally are licensed to teach Miracle Swimming. Instructor training will also be conducted at the facilities on McIntosh Road, the release says.