Heated Pool in Winter Turns the Tide for Lawrence Park Swim Club

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Lawrence Park Swim Club during a November sunset.
Image via Lawrence Park Swim Club Facebook page.
Lawrence Park Swim Club during a November sunset.

In 2019, the Lawrence Park Swim Club, an outdoor pool in Broomall, was struggling, writes J.F. Pirro for Main Line Today.

The 53-year-old facility saw its membership drop to 175 people.  Then something happened that no one expected,

The pandemic.

  It closed indoor pools, the destination of choice for swimmers in wintertime.

Lawrence Park remained open. It charged $8 a session for swimmers from places like the University of Pennsylvania, Springfield, and Cardinal O’Hara high schools. “Every time it snowed, everyone was so eager to swim they volunteered to shovel the snow off the deck,” says club president Steve Szathmary.

Lawrence Park Swim Club gambled with a $60,000 propane-generated heating system back in October 2020 to heat the pool to a luxurious 81 degrees.

“A lot of people say we wouldn’t have survived without this,” says Szathmary.

They added warming tents for swimmers to dry off quickly but they were destroyed by windy snowstorms.

They were replaced this year with an insulated pavilion, heated by kerosene torpedo blasters.  And the locker rooms are heated.

To pay for all that propane and kerosene, the now-profitable club is planning activities to stay open year-round.

Read more at Main Line Today about this reversal of fortune for the Lawrence Park Swim Club.

The swimming leg of the Frozen Hare 2020 Triathalon at the Lawrence Park Swim Club, with French Creek Racing.

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