Splash Into Summer

Philadelphia’s pools reflect unique qualities of their communities

• By Heather Khalifa and Jessica Griffin
• Published Jul 20, 2022

Monica Best-Harvey has lived in North Philadelphia her whole life — and she’s spent much of it at the pool.

She was on a swim team in high school and became a lifeguard for the city in 2000. When her kids were born, she took them to the pool, largely due to a lack of child care. She remembers each step they took while learning how to swim. It started with them holding on to her feet while they were pulled slowly through the water. Then they clutched the sides of the pool, before finally letting go and swimming to the other side.

Even more vividly, she remembers community members' reactions as her children waded into the water they were taught to not be afraid of from a young age.

“Oh my goodness, how long have you had her in the pool?” she recalled them asking of her three-year old daughter.

“Since she was born,” she replied.

Today, being a lifeguard at Penrose pool is a family affair for Best-Harvey and her 10 children. She believes neighbors have to stick up for each other — and for her family, that means being a lifeguard, even as a national lifeguard shortage continues and pandemic staff shortages linger. It’s important to Best-Harvey that other children can enjoy the activity she said helped bring her a long way in life.

“This helped me advance myself to do better,” she said. “This pool will be open every year because of the love I have for this community.”

Like most of the 50 Philly public pools that are open for the 2022 season, Penrose has its own character, a reflection of its community and the people who come together to enjoy it. Adjacent basketball courts are occupied, parents catch up in the shade, and an ice cream truck lingers outside the gates.

Some pools are boxed in by homes — the old, sturdy brick rowhomes and the new, polished gray ones.

At the Marian Anderson Recreation Center pool, the Philly skyline can be seen peeking over the fence.

In South Philadelphia, kids challenge each other to handstands in the water that Kesha Pitts, pool equipment manager at the Ford Pool for the past 24 years, keeps meticulously clean.

“It’s not about me, it’s about the children,” Pitts said. “If they’re here, you don’t need to worry about them roaming in the streets.

“I do this every year for these babies.”

A mural of smiling community members stands tall over the pool as Pitts and the lifeguards keep a watchful eye on the kids. Off to the side by the shallow end is another mural on the wall that reads, “It Takes a Village to Raise a Child,” in four languages, including Spanish and Vietnamese. The kids run past it, blissfully unaware of its message as they jump into the inviting blue water.