My wife was working Saturday and I needed to come up with something to do with the kids. I decided to venture down to Beresford, my hometown, and take the kids to the brand spanking new swimming pool there. It was definitely worth the drive.

Having grown up in Beresford remembering the ancient old pool that even my mom swam in as a kid (not my dad, he had the Brule Creek) it was neat to see the new digs. And the new digs were pretty awesome.

Admission was $3 for kids and $4 for me. Reasonable.

It had a fun little splash area for really little ones. Has a gradual deepening splash pool that eventually deepens to four feet in the lap swimming area.

Of course it has a waterslide, and by municipal pool standards it's pretty sweet. It is quite twisty. But even more important, and honestly more fun, it has a pair of one meter diving boards that land you in 11 feet 2 inches of splashdown goodness.

I remember as a kid, having a ten foot high diving board at the Beresford pool, that had gotten old and busted. Waterslides were way cooler. But now in the age of litigation and insurance liability the diving board has become scarce. Even in Sioux Falls there are only two facilities that have them.

Speaking of Sioux Falls pools, I must comment on the rules at the Beresford pool. Namely, the use of life jackets is allowed, like it is at Wild Water West (where they are provided), and almost every other chlorine pool I have ever been to in my entire life. You can't have one on for the waterslide but that's just so it doesn't get scratched. There also wasn't a constant barrage of lifeguard whistles policing every little thing the kids did. You could have squirt guns, or balls, or lean on a railing (there was no railing, but I was told I couldn't lean on a railing once at a Sioux Falls pool). Sure if you ran on the concrete you'd hear a tweet on the whistle. If a kid jumped off the board too soon the lifeguard told them about it. But that I expect because it is reasonable. It was a refreshing change from the Draconian rules in the big town pools. (Rules that take up six pages in a booklet to publish.)

If you live in one of the towns close to Beresford, or want to go to a pool where you're more.


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