Despite a mostly cool and damp Memorial Day weekend in the forecast, many pools and lakes are opening throughout the region, and an accident prevention and safety expert urges caution in the water.
Kathryn Bommer, prevention outreach coordinator Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton, noted statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and prevention in a recent interview estimating about 4,000 fatal unintentional drownings annually (an average of 11 per day) and 8,000 non-fatal drownings (roughly 22 per day) in the United States, with most of them in the 1- to 4-year-old age group.
“The main thing that we want folks to know is, you need to know how to swim. A lot of folks depend on those float buoys or those water wings, which are great, they’re fashionable, but if they get punctured and you’re in deep water and you don’t know how to swim, that becomes a life-threatening emergency,” said Bommer, who has worked numerous accident scenes as a paramedic and is also a registered nurse.
“Now, somebody who knows how to swim or has access to emergency equipment now needs to get to you, because you’re in the water, you’re panicking, you don’t know how to swim, and bad things can happen from that,” she said.
Drowning is the number one cause of death for children in the 1- to 4-year-old age group and the second-leading cause of death in the 5-to-14 age group, followed by vehicle crash, Bommer said.
Kathryn Bommer, prevention outreach coordinator at Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton, says an average of 11 people per day die of drowning in the United States and has many recommendations for water safety now that the 2026 swimming season has begun. (Courtesy of Geisinger)
Drownings in the youngest age group include children who were left unattended, even if only for a short time, in a pool, hot tub or bathtub, or even with a bucket of water, she said.
“If you have a pool in your backyard, the best prevention to make sure nobody gets injured by the water is having a fence that’s at least four feet tall and has a lock on it or a latch that a child can’t reach up and undo,” Bommer said.
Other tips include:
Use the buddy system when swimming (don’t swim alone).
Don’t drink alcohol when swimming or boating.
Learn CPR.
“If somebody you know is unconscious, unresponsive, doesn’t have a pulse due to the fact that they were in the water, CPR is going to buy time to get that ambulance there,” Bommer said. “The other thing is, you know, common sense. Don’t push people around, don’t pretend that you’re drowning, Don’t do things that can potentially cause you harm.”
People gather at the Kingston Community Pool to cool off on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (FILE)
Don’t take chances
Also, Bommer said, don’t swim or dive where it’s prohibited or where the water is murky or there could be currents.
She noted an incident at the Francis E. Walter Dam in Bear Creek Twp. on May 17, after a teenage boy entered the reservoir along with four other people but failed to resurface. Dive teams found him and pulled him from the water. He was rushed to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Twp. and later transferred to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, where he died early Monday morning.
“We have a lot of ponds, rivers and lakes. So, as the weather gets hot, people are going to the water. But, you always want to make sure you know what’s in the water before you get into it. We have heavy rains and now you’ve got muddy water or murky water, you don’t know what’s below the surface. there could be any sort of debris in the water,” Bommer said.
She warned that currents in local rivers can pull a swimmer to the middle of a river so, anyone swimming in one should be sure of their ability to swim in swift-moving water currents.
“And you want to be cautious if you’re going to be doing what they call cliff diving. … If that water is only a couple feet deep, you’re going to end up with serious injuries if you’re going in head first or feet first because, according to my American Trauma Society information, approximately nine out of 10 diving injuries occur in less than six feet of water,” Bommer said.
She re-emphasized that learning to swim is the best protection against drowning.
Lizzy McGran cleans the Conyngham Valley Civic Organization pool on Friday, May 22, 2026. (John Haeger / Staff Photographer)
Local pools get ready
Lizzy McGran, executive director of the Conyngham Valley Civic Organization and pool manager, agreed that knowing how to swim is important and said the CVCO is offering swimming lessons at the pool this summer.
“It’s something we’re really excited about,” McGran said on Friday while taking a break from cleaning the pool for opening day on Saturday. “They’ll be learning not just the skills of swimming, but also a lot of safety tips.”
McGran said she hopes the weather isn’t too cold or rainy over the weekend, but the pool will open regardless.
Some other pools in the region won’t be opening for Labor Day or soon after, including the Borough of Forty Fort’s pool and the pool at McDade Park in Scranton, which are still undergoing repairs.
PLACES TO SWIM
While there are places to swim year-round in the region, such as YMCAs, there are several public pools and lakes available to swimmers this summer beginning Memorial Day weekend.
Public pools
Lackawanna County
Connell Park, 800 Gibbons St. – opens June 13.
Lackawanna State Park, 1839 Abington Road, North Abington Twp. – pool opens Saturday.
McDade Park, 100 Bald Mountain Road – splash pad opens around June 1, swimming pool will open when repairs are complete later this summer.
Nay Aug Park, 500 Arthur Ave., opens after school lets out in June.
Weston Field, 982 Providence Road – opens June 13.
Weston Park, 100 Spring St. – opens Monday.
Luzerne County
Conyngham Valley Civic Organization, 311 Main St., Conyngham – opens Saturday.
Frances Slocum State Park, 565 Mount Olivet Road, Kingston Twp. – open Saturday through Monday, then on weekends until mid-June, when the pool will be open daily.
Kingston Community Pool, 400 Lathrop St., Kingston – opens June 6.
Lakes
Carbon County
Beltzville State Park, 2950 Pohopoco Drive, Lehighton (Franklin and Towamensing townships) – the lake at the sand beach opens Saturday for swimming at your own risk.
Hickory Run State Park, 3 Family Camp Road, Kidder Twp., Carbon County – Sand Spring Lake open for swimming at your own risk.
Mauch Chunk Lake Park, 625 Lentz Trail, Jim Thorpe – beach opens Saturday, with swimming permitted only while lifeguards are on duty, between 11 a.m. ad 7 p.m.
Lackawanna County
Aylesworth Park, 511 Hudson St., Jermyn
Covington Park, 139 Sanko Road, Covington Twp.
Both lakes are open for swimming at your own risk, with water quality testing to be complete by the first weekend of June and lifeguards scheduling later in June.
Luzerne/Columbia/Sullivan counties
Ricketts Glen State Park, 695 State Route 487, Benton – Lake Jean is open for swimming at your own risk from the sandy beach.
Schuylkill County
Tuscarora State Park, 687 Tuscarora Park Road, Barnesville (Rush Twp.) – the lake is open for swimming at your own risk.