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deep end there were three dives. Two dives were three feet above the water and the high dive which was ten feet above the water. The high dive towered in the middle of the end of the pool like a hovering presence flanked on each side by the lower dives which served as stepping stones to the ultimate challenge.

One day as I jumped out in preparation to "bob", I accidentally began to move my hands in a digging motion. I had taught myself to "dog paddle". It wasn't long until I learned some strokes and was able to swim. As I watched other kids I mastered first the low and then the high dives. Swimming gave me all the freedom and fun I knew it would, and, it was all thanks to that big public pool.

It's funny. There used to be a pool in about every nook and cranny of the city where I live. Then, in the name of progress, pools were consolidated to create so-called "strategically located swim centers". They're huge but difficult for everyone to get to.

I remember walking home from the pool with a little water in my ear. My skin was tight and warm from a day in the sun. I would stop and get a "Green River" from a confectionary on my way home and once there would go straight to sleep for a couple of hours. It felt wonderful. I was always ready to repeat the process the next day.

Our public swimming pool wasn't only a recreational facility; it was a place where kids who had nothing could go. It was a social meeting place. It was ahead of it's time in that it brought many cultures together.

Perhaps the biggest thing the swimming pool did for me, however, was give me a memory that I'll cherish forever.

Learn more about this author, Gary Davis.
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