By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

MONTEVALLO – Over the month of June, the Alabaster YMCA has been giving free swim lessons to children from the Montevallo Boys and Girls Club at the University of Montevallo pool. The Montevallo branch of the Boys and Girls Club opened eight years ago in 2008, and has partnered with the University of Montevallo in the past to use the university’s pool and lifeguards for swim lessons. When the Alabaster YMCA reached out to the University to express their interest in giving swim lessons, Montevallo Boys and Girls Club director Freda Shivers jumped on the opportunity.

“It was really a no-brainer,” Shivers said. “We’re always looking for partnerships. In this case we had folks that were teaching swim lessons that had a ton of experience. It’s been a big success, it’s gone really great.”

Deborah Jones, who has been a lifeguard with the Alabaster Y for the last year but has worked with the YMCA at a number of branches over the past 10 years, said the reason for the training is simple.

“We want to teach as many kids as we can to swim,” Jones said. “We want more kids to swim and know how to be able to at least get to the side (of the pool) if they fall in the water.”

This is the first summer the Alabaster YMCA has partnered with the Boys and Girls Club of Montevallo, but has done similar programs with the Alabaster City Schools in the past.

The final week of lessons wrapped up on June 23, but went from the week of June 9 through the week of the 23^rd, for an hour a day from 1:30-2:30 p.m.