Scott Township Pool celebrates Swimmer Appreciation Day

A dreary sky and strong chance of precipitation pushed back plans for Swimmer Appreciation Day at Scott Township Pool.

Some activities did occur as scheduled on Aug. 7, but the main event ended up taking place some 48 hours later.

“It turned out to be an awesome day. We’ve got a huge turnout,” pool manager John Nemeth reported, with a packed house for the annual “thank you” from the municipality to the children and adults who spend the summer at the pool in the heart of Scott Township Park.

Water slide and splash contests, inner-tube races and drawings for prizes were among the day’s highlights, under a preponderance of sunlight with temperatures well-suited for swimsuits.

For Nemeth, this summer represents his return as manager, after having served in that capacity in 2017-18. His overall experience at the pool goes much further back, to when he was a youngster growing up in Rosslyn Farms.

“We would come over here in the summer and take swim lessons. I learned how to swim here. And then we swam for Scott Sharks, the summer swim team here, all through high school,” he said, and he coached the team for a few years after that.

A graduate of Central Catholic High School, Nemeth excelled for Denison University in Granville, Ohio, earning All-American swimming honors. He went on to earn his master’s degree in health and physical education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and today is a phys ed teacher and swim coach in Quaker Valley School District.

With Scott Township Pool having undergone a major overhaul in 2016, Nemeth considered it to be somewhat of a new environment when he became manager the following year.

But it’s the same great community, and it’s the same great park,” he said.

The pool is scheduled to close after Labor Day, and youngsters can look forward to a new splash pad that will be open for the 2024 season.