Crotched Mountain > Rehabilitation > Aquatics Center > PERSONAL PERSPECTIVES                 

"Everybody Into the Pool" originally appeared in the Spring 2005 issue of our seasonal publication, Horizons, Vol. 5, No. 1.

EVERYONE INTO THE POOL!

Matt is non verbal and cannot maneuver his wheelchair, feed or dress himself. But in the Crotched Mountain pool, he splashes and swims with great excitement. He wears a huge grin. He is free! Water opens up an independence and freedom of movement for children with disabilities that often helps them build confidence and feel more in control.

"Water is hugely beneficial for all age groups and all abilities," explains Caitlin McPherson, program coordinator for Crotched Mountain's Aquatic Center.

Water lessens the impact of weight bearing activities on the joints and spine for people with arthritis, back injuries, or post-surgery rehabilitation needs. People who use wheelchairs can often swim or walk in water with virtually no assistance. Children who can't engage in land-based exercise will play happily in the water, unaware that they are exercising.

"Buoyancy allows clients to exercise and address balance skills at a level they are unable to perform in other modalities," according to Lyn Therrien, Crotched Mountain's director of Occupational and Physical Therapy. "The resistance of water provides time to regain their balance while giving support to weakened muscles."

Built in 1990, the four-lane recreational pool and a smaller therapy pool at Crotched Mountain are booked up to 16 hours a day for therapy, swimming lessons, adult lap swim and snorkeling training, serving a varied population from the mountain and its surrounding communities.

Water fitness and lifeguard training are offered along with classes in scuba diving that have been especially popular with adults from Crotched Mountain's Brain Injury Center. A rescue squad brought in child car seats to see which would float, flip over or sink.

The hydraulic floor of the therapy pool can be raised or lowered from just inches to a depth of five feet. This flexibility allows a client to move from sitting to kneeling to standing, providing just the right amount of support. Children and adults who cannot lie flat on their backs on hard surfaces, are able to stretch out for therapeutic exercise in the water. The warmth of the therapy pool water at 94-96o promotes relaxation, decreases pain and provides psychological benefits as well.

Programs are advertised on Crotched Mountain's web site,www.crotchedmountain.org, where the Aquatics Center page is the third most-often accessed page. A busy month clocks 4,600 individual pool usages adding up to nearly 27,000 each year. As a service to the town of Greenfield, residents may use the recreational pool at no charge during individual lap swim and family swim.

One regular swimmer was able to postpone knee surgery through water strengthening. Another found water fitness helped to cope with cystic fibrosis. Still another reported leg bone regrowth following bone necrosis.

Children have life altering experiences as well. One five-year-old with autism was brought to the pool as part of an after school program for typical kids. At first, even touching the water was an issue. When he finally went into the pool, his aide was by his side and mom was at the edge. One year later he enters the pool entirely by himself and mom watches from a window upstairs. To the world at large, he is just like all the other kids.

Masters Swimmers, for adults of all levels, offers workouts for specific goals such as weight loss, triathlon training and aerobic conditioning. New this year are youth water fitness, geared to kids who don't normally exercise enough, Ai Chi (water Tai Chi) and a program called Stretch Your Stress. Under consideration are prenatal swim, youth water polo and underwater cycling.

Pricing for the Aquatics Center programs is kept affordable through the generosity of Crotched Mountain's donors.