OUTLOOK — From the time she was slightly woman, Karen Cole has cherished swimming. From classes to lifeguarding to lane swimming, she has at all times felt at house. As the 2025 pool season involves an in depth, the girl who grew up in Outlook mirrored on the many years she has spent within the water.
“I started swimming when I was a little girl down at the pool in the park. I can remember being down there at least at the age of six,” the devoted swimmer mentioned. By the time she was 12, she was lifeguarding a bit, and at 15 took her lifeguarding and instructing on the RCMP Depot in Regina.
Karen remembers fondly the time spent on the former pool. “It was such a nice setting in the park. All our friends went there and that’s where we spent our summers.” She taught swimming classes to many youngsters from Outlook and the encompassing areas. “They were just great years,” she shared. “So much fun.”
Karen hasn’t let something interrupt her connection to the pool. Even after changing into a nurse, getting married and shifting to Conquest, she ensured there was time for swimming. Working as a nurse for 43 years in Outlook, she continued to make swimming a part of her day. “I would come swimming in the mornings before heading to work. I always made sure I could fit it in.” During that point, she typically took care of individuals she’d taught and lifeguarded years earlier than. “Oh yes, many times,” she remarked. “They would recognize me and we had that connection because of the pool.”
For 5 many years now, she has been faithfully collaborating within the early morning lane swim. “I wouldn’t miss it. I’m here every morning,” she mentioned. “I drive in from Conquest every day for 6:30 lane swim. I just love doing it.” She mentioned swimming is an efficient selection of exercise irrespective of your age since “it’s a sport that doesn’t put any extra stress on your body.”
She used to include all of the swimming strokes into her time on the pool however now alternates between breaststroke and entrance crawl. She tries to maintain observe of her laps and thinks she averages about 40 every day. “A lot of the younger girls do more, but I also stretch and exercise in between. That’s part of my swimming routine, too,” she defined.
There are normally eight swimmers who arrive round 6:30 a.m., with a number of others coming later for a reasonably constant group of 13. There are two hours put aside for lane swim so folks can come and go as their schedules permit. In addition to the athletic facet of lane swimming, Karen mentioned there’s a social part too. “We visit as we’re getting in and out of the pool and then we stop every so often and talk. We make such good friendships here lane swimming.”
Karen has witnessed vital adjustments in her many years of swimming, starting with the pool within the regional park and now the brand new facility situated by the Rec Plex. “We’re so fortunate for Outlook, as a small town, to have had that pool down by the river for so many years and then to have this new pool now. It’s a beautiful facility. I really enjoyed the old pool because I grew up there but this facility is just awesome. It’s a special thing that we’ve got here.”
Karen says there’s by no means been a time she wasn’t swimming, and he or she is thrilled her household enjoys the water, too. “All my children are swimmers and all my grandchildren, too. Some of them lifeguarded. Now I have a great-grandson taking swimming lessons here,” she remarked. Ensuring folks perceive water security has been essential to her, notably after the lack of a pal when she was a teen. “I had a friend that drowned swimming in the river when I was about 16. We have to learn respect for the water. That’s very important and that’s why the pool is the best place to swim.”
The Van Raay & Community Swimming Pool will end its season Labour Day weekend, bringing lane swimming to an finish for an additional yr — one thing Karen admits is gloomy for her. She deliberately stays lively round the home over the winter till the pool opens once more for an additional summer time. “I am always excited to get back together with friends. It’s such a special group and I get anxious and excited to come back.”
After many many years of recreation and delight within the pool, Karen has no intention of stopping any time quickly. “I’m probably the oldest one out here but I will keep going. It’s been such a part of my life and I wouldn’t change that. I will continue as long as I can.”