Plunge operational changes considered by PRCS Commission

At their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, the Culver City Parks, Recreation, and Community Services (PRCS) Commission discussed the future of operations at The Plunge as the number of lifeguards at the city's disposal becomes clearer, and the potential removal of the requirement to reserve lanes for use took center stage.

There is clear support to remove the reservation system for swimmers among PRCS Commissioners, but a survey was deemed necessary after deliberations to gather community feedback and ensure that residents agree with the Commission's position.

A small section of the pool will be available for drop-in swimmers to use without needing to make reservations over a trial period, helping gauge the community's reception to the change. Drop-in swimming lanes will be available at the following times, starting next Monday, Sept. 8 and ending Dec. 13:

• Monday/Wednesday/Friday: Three lanes from 6 a.m. to Noon
• Tuesday/Thursday: Two lanes from 7 to 9 p.m.
• Saturday/Sunday: Two lanes from Noon to 3 p.m.

The Plunge has operated as Culver City's Municipal Pool since its opening on August 31, 1949. It is an Olympic-size competition pool with a diving well with one-meter and three-meter springboards, and is generally oriented in one of two ways: 19 short-course lanes set up along the width of the pool, or nine long-course lanes set up lengthwise.

Recent conversations surrounding The Plunge began in May after a lack of workforce to cover lifeguard shifts led to a recommendation by city staff to transition from managing its own lifeguards to contracting with an outside firm, sparking an uproar from the community.

The city council declined to move forward with that recommendation, prompting the PRCS Department to launch a concerted hiring effort. To help quickly address the staffing situation and minimize times when The Plunge is closed due to a lack of lifeguards, a Hiring Fair was held on June 30 to promptly add to the lifeguard staff.

That push led to a bump up in the number of lifeguards, but not nearly enough to compensate for those who might leave. While the total number of lifeguards increased from 22 to 30 (27 lifeguards and three lifeguard/swimming instructors), the department expects the Plunge to lose 13 staff members in the coming months as students working over the summer return to college.

However, lifeguard staffing levels are not anticipated to be a limiting factor in operations moving forward after past shortages resulted in pool closure, according to PRCS Department Director Ted Stevens. With that in mind, commissioners were mainly supportive of eliminating the reservation requirement and fully opening the pool to drop-in swimmers.

The Plunge implemented reserved lanes during the COVID-19 pandemic to enforce social distancing, along with other municipal pools in Southern California. However, it has been slow to revert those changes compared to pools in Hawthorne, UCLA, and other locations. The Santa Monica Swim Center has also rolled back many of their reservation requirements, but still ask for reservations for lap swimming on weekday afternoons and evenings.

This difference was cited as evidence that the city should take a more decisive approach towards returning to the pre-pandemic model. Commissioner Marci Baun argued that The Plunge is a public asset, and it should be available to the public as much as possible. One of the issues that comes with reservations acknowledged at the meeting is when people no-show, cutting into other's time and space to swim.

"In the past, that pool used to be full," Baun said at the meeting. "Pre-pandemic, it was busy all the time."

Baun argued that the need to reserve private spaces did not coincide with what a public pool should represent, and noted that she has spoken with people at other pools who no longer want to swim at The Plunge because of the reservation policy. However, city staff relayed that they have also heard the opposite opinion, and want to ensure that the pool's operations are aligned with what the majority of community members want.

The trial period proposed by staff would allow them to distribute surveys and gather feedback on whether residents prefer reservations or open swimming lanes. While PRCS Commission Chair Crystal Alexander was a proponent of ensuring the parks of Culver City are open and accessible to as many people as possible, she sought to make changes that aligned with the community's desires.

Alexander also stressed urgency if the results of the survey indicated that residents preferred the open pool system. However, she said that the conversation would need to shift if the survey results leaned the other way, arguing that the majority opinion in the community should dictate how the community pool is operated.

"I was hoping tonight I would land in a place to have it more open right away," Alexander said. "By the time we get to the beginning of 2026, we have to get it open."

Commissioner Jennifer Chen was supportive of the survey, but wanted to be able to move quickly once a determination was made from the results. The completion of the survey coincides with The Plunge's annual maintenance closure — which will keep the pool closed from December 14 to January 3, 2026 — and Stevens suggested that changes could be made immediately following the maintenance based on the feedback received.

The motion to move forward with this plan passed unanimously.