Jackie Prindle Pool gets an update

For thirty three years Frank Akins has served as the schools girls and boys water polo swim coach and even after his retirement he continued to support the swim team by helping as a scorer and timer. On Feb 19, he passed away, and the Akins family still supported Peninsula by asking that donations in his memory are made to the Jackie Prindle Pool.

Marilyn Prindle, mother of Jackie Prindle, stated that her daughter and son were both coached by Frank Akins during their years at Peninsula.

“They were both fond of him,” Prindle said. “We are grateful that his family named the Pool Project as a recipient of donations in his name after his death.”

Due to his contribution and the Pool Committee, the Prindle Pool was able to successfully raise $1.97 million. The committee expects to break ground in June and hopes to complete the construction from four to six months. The committee hopes that in November a few water polo games will be played in the new pool.

Pool committee co-chair Mary DiMatteo expresses her gratitude towards the Prindle family’s donation of $150,000 which “got the ball rolling for our project.” Although there were obstacles for the financial support, the Pool Committee was determined and has worked very hard for the past few years.

“I am not going to lie; it was a lot of work to keep this project in the minds of the community and to raise the $1.97 million needed. Even though $1.3 million came from the district, we had to work for those funds,” DiMatteo said. “We have been to more meetings in the past two years than I can count but we saw a need; we saw there was an opportunity.”

Many students on the swim team and water polo team were overjoyed to hear the news of the pool construction. Freshman Kyria Sanchez states her opinion on what the new pool would mean to her.

“We get to swim in a bigger pool rather than the tiny one right now,” Sanchez said. “Since it’s so small it’s really hard to swim in the pool with ten girls in each lane so we kick each other a lot accidentally.”

The Prindle Pool means a lot to young swimmers such as Sanchez. It will provide a safer atmosphere for future years.

Prindle reminisces that her children had “so much fun” swimming in Peninsula and made many friends in their teams.

“Both enjoyed their time in the water there very much and both claimed to feel normal only when they smelled of chlorine,” Prindle said.