Lots going on at Brentwood's cool pool

At 6 a.m. on a recent weekday, Timberline Park Pool in Brentwood welcomes its first swimmers, even though the sun is barely up.
The West Islip Swim Club practices for two hours under the watchful eyes of a lifeguard.

Chief lifeguard Dan Walsh, 35, and another lifeguard are already at work preparing the community gem for its adoring public.

Other lifeguards set up the sprinklers and check the bathrooms. About 8 a.m. more lifeguards trickle in. Swimmers taking lessons through the Town of Islip begin practice. Schedules are made, bathrooms are cleaned; registers are set up.

“There’s a lot going on, so I kind of depend on these guys,” says Walsh, who lives in Oakdale and has been a lifeguard at the pool for 17 years.

It’s just after 10 a.m. and the sun is already beaming as early pool patrons stake out the perfect spot for their belongings before making a splash in one of the park’s three pools, which close to the public at 7 p.m.

One family sets up a tent and large umbrella behind the kiddie pool. Another finds a picnic table to start unloading food by the Olympic-size pool. Glorinda Casillas, of Bay Shore, comes early so she and her two nieces and nephew can nab a few of the park’s coveted lawn chairs.

“It’s close by, it’s refreshing, and it’s clean,” Casillas, 55, says of Timberline.

And it’s still busy as the day winds down. At 5:30 the new lifeguard candidates arrive and are trained until 9; another swim club comes to practice.

Of the pool’s 16 lifeguards, 10 to 12 of them are working on any one day. They say they make about 80 saves a season. It’s busiest from noon to 2 p.m., especially during the week, when campers visit.
The season runs from late June through Labor Day, and admission is free to those with a pool membership; otherwise prices start at $5, and seniors and the disabled get a discount.

The lifeguards are a close-knit squad who have watched many of the neighborhood kids grow up and come to work at the park.
“The one thing that stands out is that you can count on everyone you work with,” says senior lifeguard Lauren Barth, 23, of West Islip. “I love it here.”