Tiger Plunge finishes summer strong

Heather Goddard
Posted 8/19/20

Giant slip’n’slides, water balloons, diving contests and epic games of sharks and minnows.

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Tiger Plunge finishes summer strong

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LUSK – Giant slip’n’slides, water balloons, diving contests and epic games of sharks and minnows. The Tiger Plunge was the place to be on Sunday, Aug. 16. The plunge hosted its second annual Back-to-School Splash with games and prizes for swimmers of all ages. 

Swimmers enjoyed games and activities from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. with lifeguards getting in on the action as well. They held diving contests, distance swimming and of course, it wouldn’t be a pool day without cannon balls.

The Tiger Plunge was a place of fun and normalcy during the crazy and just plain weird times of summer 2020. The Plunge was fully staffed and up and running by Memorial Day without restrictions and never slowed down. Closing only for the occasional thunder storm, the plunge was open seven days a week and held multiple sessions of swimming lessons. Manager Barbara Cushman worked hard to ensure the plunge was a reliable place for the community to seek out fun and entertainment.

Cushman is passionate about the swimming pool. A life-long swimmer herself, she was competitive from a young age. She trains her staff well and is a stickler for water quality and water safety. The guards are on a strict 15 minute station rotation to ensure they don’t experience eye fatigue. No lazy guards here, they are active with the swimmers often engaging with young swimmers, who might need a little assistance, or just a confidence boost in the water.

The guards not on duty don’t just sit around either, they often swim with the littlest kids, staff the concession stands or are cleaning and checking water levels and chemistry. 

While many community pools were only open with restrictions or stayed closed, Cushman was adamant the Plunge was going to open without restrictions and they would work hard to keep it that way. Locker rooms, checkout flotation devices and the concession stands were all run as normal. It was a relief for many to arrive at the Plunge and see no evidence that life is any different than it was last year. There are no signs warning about COVID-19 and social distancing or masking. While staff did monitor those arriving for symptoms of illness, this was no different than other years when they asked that if someone had symptoms of an illness please don’t swim. At this time there is no known disease transmission of COVID-19 from the Tiger Plunge activities and Niobrara county, in spite of its myriad of activities throughout the summer, only experienced one more confirmed case of COVID-19.

Families came to Lusk from miles around for their children to experience fun at the plunge. Some days pool attendance was as high as 80 people at one time. Speaking with one mother from Colorado who happened to be in town with her children, she said, “When all the kids started playing sharks and minnows I started crying. My kids haven’t played with other children since March. It has been such a relief to be in this town for a few days. Where I am from the fear and anxiety is palpable and people don’t even smile anymore.” 

In recent weeks the pool has experienced some boiler problems and water was a little cooler but Cushman hopes the parts will arrive for regular pool heating by next week.

The Plunge will be open with normal hours through Aug. 23. After that hours will begin to scale back as guards and Cushman return to school and jobs. They plan to be open through Sept. 12 if staff schedules allow it. The pool will not be open the Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day.