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Syracuse PAL’s Summer Camp Starts on a Successful Note but Faces a Major Challenge Syracuse PAL's summer camp starts on a successful note

By Whitney Williams

Nottingham High School Pool
© 2023 Whitney Williams

The Syracuse school district’s aquatic supervisor Edward Curle oversaw the swim camp last week.

He says the shortage of lifeguards in Syracuse caused the camp to waitlist dozens of interested kids.

Curle says one of the biggest reasons for this lifeguard shortage is COVID.

Curle: No one had opportunities to take the lifeguarding classes, those who were water safety instructors before weren’t able to teach, so their water safety instructor lapsed.

Syracuse Police Department’s director of community engagement Jimmy Oliver says the swim camp was forced to outsource lifeguards.

Oliver wants to make these types of camp positions available to Syracuse locals first.

Oliver: But if we started developing our bench with our kids who live eat, sleep here,
play in the city, that will you know, they’ll give them a job, you know, put some
money in their pocket.

Oliver hopes that the swim camp will remedy this shortage in the near future.

Whitney Williams, NCC news.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News)- The Syracuse Police Department’s Athletic/Activities League (PAL) successfully started its second annual summer camp last week, according to Jimmy Oliver, SPD’s director of community engagement.

The free, four-week camp began with a swim camp at Nottingham High School, running from July 10 to July 14.

Oliver, who is also the president of the PAL program, said the swim camp was the first of four camps to be held during the four-week period. The swim camp hosted 50 children ages 6 to 13, according to Oliver.

Oliver said the PAL swim camp was in high demand, with children being placed on a waiting list after the camp ran out of available spots. To remedy this, PAL will be hosting two swim camp sessions this year. The second session will be held July 24 to July 28 and will host an additional 50 children.

“A lot of us don’t know how to swim,” said Oliver. “It’s a life skill. And every kid in the city of Syracuse deserves to learn how to swim.”

Edward Curle, the Syracuse School District’s aquatic supervisor, oversaw the running of the swim camp.

Curle said the camp grouped children according to their swimming expertise, ranging from a beginner level to an advanced level. The program had five instructors and two instructor teaching aides, according to Curle.

“We started with a 45-minute American Red Cross learn-to-swim lesson. After that we broke up into three groups and rotated between diving off the diving board, kayaking, and we did sort of an intro to snorkeling,” said Curle.

Both Oliver and Curle said the biggest challenge with expanding the swim camp is the shortage of lifeguards and swim instructors across Onondaga County.

“The biggest reason right now (for the shortage of lifeguards) is COVID. No one had opportunities to take the lifeguarding classes, those who were water safety instructors before weren’t able to teach, so their water safety instructor lapsed,” explained Curle.

Oliver said that PAL was forced to outsource lifeguards to operate the swim camp.

He hopes that the PAL swim camp will instill a passion for swimming in young people and encourage a new generation of lifeguards and swim instructors.

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