Springboards attract crowds at Rath Park

Nothing says summer like taking a plunge off a diving board into the cool relief of water at a local swimming pool. Yet for over a decade, Franklin Square residents didn’t have the option of jumping or diving off a springboard. Swimmers used the diving pool at Rath Park, but without boards, it seldom drew a crowd.

That all changed on July 30 when two new diving boards were unveiled at the pool. Children and parents alike said they were pleased with the boards, which took over a year to obtain. They are 12 feet long and three-quarters of a meter high, and have custom-made railings to ensure divers’ safety.

The boards and their bases, which cost $12,500 each and which Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray directed to be ordered over a year ago, are recreational, not competitive, equipment — the park controls the amount of spring in them to prevent injuries or accidents. The town began installing them as soon as they arrived.

While children won’t be showing off Olympic-caliber dives any time soon, the line for the boards never shrank on a recent Thursday, even as clouds threatened rain. Boys and girls eagerly awaited their turn to test the pool’s newest equipment. Children must wait for the swimmer in front of them to reach the ladder before jumping off the board, but the boys and girls didn’t seem to have any trouble waiting for their chance.

“The line never stops,” Murray noted, looking out over the dive pool. “The kids are pretty darn happy with them.”

For 12-year old Jamie Cassetta, the diving boards are a welcome addition to her favorite place to be in the summer. Jamie, who swims for the Rath swim team as well as the St. Ann’s CYO swim team in Garden City, is at the pool nearly every day, said her mother, Debbie, adding that she and other parents were thrilled to see the new boards. Cassetta, who has been coming to the pool for nine summers, said that many parents have been asking for diving boards for a long time. “These are perfect,” she said.

Her daughter took a break from diving to tell the Herald how excited she and her friends were about using the new boards, a welcome change from diving off the side of the pool, even though there is a longer wait. “Now this pool is the most popular,” she said before jumping back in line.