Local swim teams rally to return City Meet to Concord as Springwood team skips season
CONCORD, CA (May 29, 2024) — The last three Concord City Swimming Championships have been held in Walnut Creek at Northgate High School. This July the 57th City Meet hopes to return to Concord Community Pool on the July 26-28 weekend, but it will do so without the meet’s hosts of over 50 years.
Springwood Swim Team has faced a daunting financial issue regarding repayment of the $90,000 balance that remains from a $130,000 private loan to repair the pool in 2018. The swim team board decided to pause the team this season as efforts are ongoing to resolve the loan issue.
Team families have found new homes for the 2024 season at neighboring Bishop Estates and Forest Park swim teams as well as Dana Hills, Scottsdale and other area rec programs.
Board resigned
Marco Ramos served on the swim team board, which has reportedly all resigned, as well as the vice president of the Springwood Swim Club board that manages the facility on Concord Blvd. “The pool will be available to family members of the club this year as we continue to work towards a resolution on the loan payment,” an optimist Ramos told The Pioneer recently.
He said a recent article in The Pioneer brought a lot of attention to the situation with many well-meaning people reaching out to help. However, several parties also contacted the board “looking to make a quick buck” without serving the needs of the swim team and Springwood community.
In the meantime, the remaining local rec swim clubs including Forest Park, Bishop Estates, Ygnacio Wood, Walnut Country, Oakhurst, Dana Hills and Gehringer Park have banded together to plan this year’s meet, the first at Concord Community Pool since before the pandemic. Concord aquatics supervisor Matt Galindo says, “We are currently working with City Meet to complete the required paperwork and permits to utilize Concord Community Pool.”
Lack of swimmers
Besides Springwood, also missing from the meet, wherever it goes, will be the Vista Diablo Dolphins. The swim team of over 40 years canceled its 2024 season due to a lack of swimmers. It has been a tumultuous time for the local rec swimming community in recent years. Walnut Country of Concord was threatened with losing its pool use in 2019 due to a conflict with the Cowell Homeowners Association board that was eventually removed from office.
A few years after the Concord Jaycees started the Concord Swimming Championships (popularly called the City Meet) in 1967, Springwood took over operations and held the team’s largest fundraiser. In the early 1970s the club moved the meet. It went from Concord Community Pool on Cowell Road to its home pool at the corner of Thornwood Drive and Concord Blvd.
In 1996 the meet moved back to Concord Community Pool with much more parking. It also had space for 1000 participants and spectators to enjoy the weekend-long festivities.
Read more stories by Jay Bedecarré.
Jay Bedecarré
Jay Bedecarré is a long-time resident and writer in Concord and Clayton. He began his newspaper writing career while still a senior at Mt. Diablo High School and he has been part of The Pioneer since its inception in 2003. Jay also operates Bay Area Festivals, presenting events around the San Francisco Bay Area including Bay Area KidFest annually in Downtown Concord.