The summer season is officially here, and as the heat starts to ramp up, local residents have a great place to cool off. The San Fernando Regional Pool provides free entry to all patrons during the early afternoon.
The facility, located in San Fernando Recreation Park, is open every day except Sunday and is separated into two sections: a shallow area that includes a slide and splash pads that’s more suited for families and small children to play around in, and an Olympic-sized pool for lap swimmers.
It’s open year-round and for most holidays, including Fourth of July, Labor Day and Memorial Day. It does close, however, for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s.
The pool was built by the City of San Fernando, but after its construction, it was found to be too costly to maintain, so the facility was turned over to Los Angeles County.
There are a number of programs available for both children and adults, the most popular one being “Everybody Swims,” which provides free entry to all patrons, including those who live outside the City of San Fernando, between 12:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. All that’s needed is proper swim attire.
In contrast, pools owned by the city of LA charge $4 for adults and $1 for children 17 years old and younger, seniors at least 50 years old and people with disabilities at all hours of operation.
Wendy Centeno, a manager at San Fernando Recreation Pool, said this is the first summer since the COVID-19 pandemic that the pool has extended the hours for this program, which previously ended at 2 p.m., in response to the biggest complaint they received from patrons, which was that they felt the hours were too short.
All the other available programs at San Fernando Regional Pool, however, are paid programs and require you to register at reservations.lacounty.gov.
One of these is the water exercise program for adults only. These hour-long exercises are led by lifeguards, who use dumbbells and pool noodles to do a variety of workouts, all the while playing music to make the experience more fun. The program is $35 a month and is held three times a day, Monday through Friday, and once on Saturday. However, it’s free for seniors 65 and older and people with disabilities when they come in the morning.
There are also dedicated lap swim hours in the morning and evening: 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday. Patrons can choose to pay $15 for five entries or $80 for 30 entries.
The pool also provides multiple swim lessons for youth throughout the week. These group lessons are 45-minutes long, last two weeks and are limited to eight children per session. Each session is $25 – much cheaper than the lessons offered at city of LA pools, which charge $67.
Lastly, the pool has youth sports teams, including the swim, dive and polo teams. Just like the youth lessons, it costs $25 for each team.
Centeno said that they’ve received a lot of positive feedback for their programs, particularly Everybody Swims, as first-time patrons are delighted to learn they can come in the afternoon for free.
“We have people who come back every day,” Centeno said. “We have people who are here at least three times a week, and people who join different programs who are here all day because they really enjoy being here in the facility. … As long as I’ve been working for the county, which is the past 10 years, the county has never charged for Everybody Swims.”
Salvador Macedo was among the first in line, ready to swim. He came with his grandson and his friend. He used to reside in the area, but never visited the pool before, as he already had access to one in the complex where he lived.
But after moving to Arleta and seeing the pool, he was pleased with his experience and the feeling of safety with so many lifeguards around.
“I’ll absolutely come more often,” Macedo said. “I don’t have to drive far, it’s really pleasant, not too crowded and easily accessible. I love it.”
For more information, go to https://sanfernando.lacountypools.com/.