Swimming is on the mind of Nelson Williams a lot lately, as this summer marks 50 years since he was the head lifeguard for the opening season of Veterans' Memorial Pool at Greensburg's Lynch Field.
Williams was 21 years old in 1962. Two-piece bathing suits were quite modest. It cost less than $1 to swim for the day and there was still a high-dive board for daring patrons.
"I still think about that summer," said Williams, whose life turned upside down that fall when a serious car accident ended his career. "A lot has changed."
There have been changes and upgrades at the pool throughout the last half-century.
The high dive has been gone for about 25 years, said pool manager Trudy Ivory, and five years ago the biggest renovation was the installation of a vinyl liner.
"We've received great compliments about the liner," said Ivory, who has managed the pool for the City of Greensburg for the last 21 years. "Patrons love it and now there is no need to paint, caulk and pressure-wash the bottom and sides."
Another big improvement came when the pool became heated 22 years ago, which makes a big difference early and late in the season, as well as for morning swimming lessons.
Lifeguard training has become more, involved with automatic external defibrillator certification now being a requirement.
There are five additional lifeguards compared to 50 years ago. Today, there are 11 women and four men. By comparison, that first year there were three women and seven men.
There are no posted signs banning thong bathing suits, said Ivory, but if someone wore one to the pool she said she would approach the individual and discreetly tell the bather their attire was inappropriate.
As far as bikinis, Ivory said, if there were a ban against them there would be few women at the pool.
The number of people using the pool has increased, Ivory said. Now there are about 250 passes sold each summer.
"We at the city don't look at recreation as profit-making, but (the goal is) to break even, and that's what we do," she added.
Although the weather hasn't been very hot since opening day, the pool does get used extensively by residents and nonresidents alike.
Ivory said there will be an anniversary celebration planned during the season.
Williams said the pool drew a crowd from the first season it opened. He said that Thomas F. Lynch, president of H.C. Frick Coal and Coke Co., donated the land and $100,000 for construction of the pool.
Swimming was more than a job and a recreational activity for Williams. It helped him to rehabilitate from his car accident injuries after spending a year in the hospital.
After multiple surgeries throughout the years, residual problems developed that caused him to lose the use of his legs in 2000.
Williams, now 71 and a longtime Hempfield resident, treasures his memories of that summer. He shared a dog-eared photo of that first group of lifeguards.
"My brother was very much a part of Lynch Field," said Williams' sister, Sondra Davidson, whose husband is the former Hempfield Supervisor Bob Davidson.
