SF Kids Swim 2024 Wins!

The volunteers at SF Kids Swim have gotten a lot done in our first year! Our open dialog with SF Rec & Park has helped us to accomplish:

• Advocating for the launch of the SF Rec & Park Activity Search API, the source of truth for swim schedules across facilities

• A swim map that the folks over at Joyful Parenting SF made with the data available in the API, letting families easily see where and when they can swim: swim.joyfulparentingsf.com

• Through our advocacy for Sunday swim – the most requested day to swim from families – SF Rec & Park launched seven days a week swim! By shifting the schedules at Garfield and Rossi pools, San Francisco residents now have somewhere to swim every day of the week.

As we look ahead to 2025, we continue to advocate for the following changes:

• Process improvement - the new Activity Search API sometimes has schedule errors

• More accessible lifeguard training - One often cited reason for why the city cannot make more swim available is the limited number of trained lifeguards. Our own Robert Peters has just completed the city’s lifeguard training program and has learned more about the process from the inside!

We are also keeping our eye on the Hamilton Pool waterslides, which were repaired after a visit from the mayor, but have since been shut down again. We reached out to the Hamilton Pool supervisor and got the following update:  “A recent inspection revealed that slides are experiencing a need in some plumbing upgrades. The parts are specially ordered, and once installed and tested we still need to go through state inspection. The custom parts piece and inspection is something outside our control.” We’ll keep following up and let everyone know when they reopen.

These are strong steps forward for our first year of work! Excited for more to come in 2025, and happy swimming!

Thanks for your support,

SF Kids Swim Team

P.S. Interested in helping? For 2025 we need volunteers writers, fundraisers and event planners. Send us an email to SFKidsSwim Team if you’re interested in helping the leadership team and we’ll loop you in!