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Interview with Susan Guertin
Marblehead/Swampscott YMCA Aquatics Director and “Sharks” Head Swim
Coach Susan Guertin is excited for the new YMCA at Leggs Hill, which
will have an 8-lane, 25-yard pool with a diving board, a warm-water
teaching pool and an outdoor pool. She’s been teaching lessons in a
3-lane, 20-yard pool at the current YMCA for 39 years.
When she first
walked on the pool deck 40 years ago, preparing to work at the ‘Y’,
the lifeguard told her, “don’t worry—we’re going to build a new
pool.” Susan and her husband Paul Guertin, a 20+ year veteran of
the Marblehead/Swampscott YMCA Board of Directors, have given a
lifetime of hard work to better the YMCA. They’ve both worked to
capital raise for not just the aquatics program, but a brand new
building as well.
“I’ve worked with
numerous volunteers and we’ve surely had our ups and downs. It
seems like it was years and years of going nowhere to find a central
location with a lot of land, but with a lot of hard work and
perseverance on the part of a lot of people—it’s a dream come true.”
Of the new
facility, Susan says, “I’m most excited about having our own pool
and being able to do all the things we’ve wanted to do for many
years.” The swim team, which she’s been coaching for 30 years, has
been using the Salem State College pool for 23 years. Over the
years they’ve had scheduling problems and the cost of renting the
facility comes out of her budget.
New programs at
the YMCA will include physical therapy with Shaughnessy-Kaplan
Rehabilitation Hospital, water polo, the “Masters” adult swim team,
scuba diving, basic kayaking and canoeing, a synchronized swimming
team and diving. Lessons, baby classes and aqua aerobics will
skyrocket in the new facility.
An additional
benefit of the new aquatics center is the flexibility it will offer
in the way of simultaneous programming. For example, the swim team
can practice in the 8-lane, 25-yard pool and swim lessons and family
swim time can occur in the other two pools.
“We’ll continue
to run our top quality lessons and class sizes will stay the same,
but we’ll be offering the added attractions of a diving board and
indoor water slide. Kids will want to keep coming back!” says Susan.
With all these
new benefits, Executive Director Paul Gorman wants to assure the
community that the cost of programs and membership will not increase
when the new YMCA opens in November of this year.
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