By Nic Maksud

From June 26-29, the swimming and diving camp was held at Julian High School with a variety of different age groups, ranging from 5th all the way to 12th graders,  all working for the same goal: improving their skills in the pool. 

This camp offered a couple of different things for the swimmers and had coaches from different Chicago Public high schools come in to help them either learn how to swim or work on their skills. 

Swim coach Gerald Winston from Whitney Young talked about the importance of offering these types of camps at an early age, “to expose younger kids who might not know how to swim, to get them in the water and get them comfortable with the water…” 

Lindblom freshman, Jada Jones, was excited to be able to attend a camp like this one and knows that it means a lot to those who attended.

“It opens up more opportunities for people who want to learn how to swim and I think it improves pool safety,” she said.

But this camp is not just for the first-timers in the water. They also look to help the high schoolers who might be more used to the water than the others. Winston added, “The older kids that know how to swim, for me it was stroke refinement… to help them get ready for the high school season.” 

CICS Lloyd 6th grader, Aidan Winding felt the camp has helped him not only improve in the pool, but as a person as well.

“I improve a lot when I listen mostly, sometimes mistakes happen and that’s how we grow,” he said. “That’s how life works, mistakes help us grow.” 

CPL and CPS SCORE! will offer more chances to improve your swimming and diving skills in the month of July with the next session of camps starting up.