POUGHKEEPSIE – Amidst the turmoil and unease of the pandemic, we wanted to take the opportunity to celebrate a triumph in our community. Back in February, it was looking bleak for Our Lady of Lourdes Girls Swim Team to have their swim season. Since most local schools do not have their own pools, swim season is always an extensive collaboration of sharing pool time among the local colleges and handful of schools that do have pools. During the pandemic, the local colleges understandably sealed their campuses leaving only two possible pools in Dutchess County as potential training facilities. With the support of Principal Catherine Merryman, Our Lady of Lourdes Athletic Director William Kyle reached out to Beacon City School District Athletic Director John Giametta who graciously opened the Beacon City School District’s pool to local schools.
Our heartfelt thanks go out to Beacon City Schools Girls Swim Coach Larry Collins who spearheaded the project to share Beacon’s pool among the local school districts. Through his extraordinary efforts, the Beacon pool became a haven for dozens of high school swimmers searching for a sense of normalcy in this completely unpredictable year. Thanks to Coach Collins, swimmers from OLL, Arlington, Ketcham, and John Jay got to experience swim season 2021 complete with the opportunity to train and compete in swim meets.
There are no words to express how grateful we are for the generosity and fellowship demonstrated by Coach Collins and AD John Giametta.
Beacon City School District indeed became our “Beacon of Hope and Friendship” in this trying year.
THANK YOU!
Sincerely,
Coaches Tom and Jill Bubel
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