2015, A BANNER SEASON: With 104,000 individuals and counting as of last week, the Community Park Swimming Pool has had a record-breaking summer. (Photo by Charles R. Plohn)

The Community Park Swimming Pool enjoyed a banner season and was still going strong recently when Recreation Department Executive Director Ben Stentz and Councilwoman Jo Butler, the Council’s liaison to the Recreation Commission, spoke to Town Topics.

“We already eclipsed the total number of visits for any year,” Mr. Stentz reported. At the time of the interview, a record number of 104,000 individuals had already passed through the Community Park pool gate, and the final total may be as much as 110,000. Regular pool memberships increased for the fourth consecutive season as well, with 5,000 total members.

The Blue Fish Swim Dive teams also enjoyed impressive numbers. After “searching the records as far back as we can find,” Stentz feels fairly confident in saying that the swimming and diving teams enjoyed record numbers of participants (237 and 55, respectively), and the icing on the cake was that both teams took first place this year in the Princeton Area Swimming and Diving competitions. This appears to be another first for the Princeton Recreation Department, but whether or not it actually is, “you couldn’t do anything but smile seeing their faces,” said Mr. Stentz.

Besides the fun, there’s a serious side to monitoring activities at this busy hub, and Mr. Stentz is quick to emphasize the importance of having had “a safe summer.” He credits Aquatic Director Mike Uchren for playing a large part in achieving this goal. Ms. Butler concurs: “There are a lot of moving parts to the pool operation, and the Recreation Department did another tremendous job serving the community.”

A Long Summer

“We had an exceptionally long summer with an early Memorial Day and a late Labor Day,” noted Ms. Butler. “It was a 100-day season, about ten days longer than normal.” Mr. Stentz credited the 130-plus staff members, including lifeguards, managers, and custodial people, with “doing a lot of heavy lifting this summer. I sure am proud of them,” he added. “They’re really engaged in what we’re doing here.”

Summer camps at the pool, which included two sessions with 190 kids from grades one through six per session and employed over 40 staff people, also enjoyed “hearty numbers,” this year.

Fans of the annual “cardboard canoe race” will be glad to know that this year’s event — the 17th — was as much fun as ever. “Each year it gets a little more elaborate as the kids come up with crazier ideas,” he said. “Everyone gets involved: maintenance staff, counselors; it’s a full regatta and one of those moments when everyone shares a moment of low-pressure fun. That’s when I know we’re doing a good job.”

“It’s hard to believe that it’s four full summers since we renovated the pool,” Mr. Stentz reflected. “I remember the process; it doesn’t seem that long ago.”

It was not that long ago (several months, in fact) that Mr. Stentz received an offer to serve as recreation department head elsewhere. A counter-offer from Princeton, raising his salary helped him decide to stay, but the main thing that kept him here, he says, is the Recreation Department staff. “The more I analyzed the opportunity to go somewhere else, the more I realized I could never duplicate this experience.” He describes his dozen-member staff as people who “reach further” every chance they get, whether or not it’s visible to the public. The pool, in particular, “is like a living organism,” Mr. Stentz commented. “Every year we’re trying to make it better every day.”

 Stay tuned: In 2016 Community Park will host both the swimming and diving championship meet for the first time in over 30 years.