By Victoria Stone-Meadows
SWIMMING pool facilities in Casey got slammed over the weekend of 7 and 8 January when temperatures in the region reached blistering figures in the high thirties.
Thousands of people flocked to swimming pools in Casey to try to beat the heat and many of the facilities were pushed to capacity due to the influx of people.
YMCA Area Manager, Matt Spencer said attendance at the pools across Casey were the highest on record.
“All three Casey pools had a combined total of 8394 through the doors,” he said.
“This is the most we’ve seen in quite a long time.”
However, some Casey residents trying to beat the heat had to be turned away from the centres when the swimmer to lifeguard ratio at the pools reached its maximum allowance.
Between about 2pm until about 5.30pm at Casey RACE, patrons were turned away from the door and the facility managers had to implement a one-in, one-out system.
Casey ARC faced similar problems later in the day when capacity was reached at the centre at about 3.30pm.
Doveton Pool in the Park did not officially reach capacity with about 600 people attending at the busiest point of the day with more coming through the gate.
A spokesperson from the YMCA said while the facilities did not have official capacity numbers, they are under strict guidelines to maintain a safe lifeguard to patron ratio.
