he pool at the YWCA of Salt Lake City was built in 1919. It is the oldest indoor pool in Utah.
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| Gini Doelle Tucker, part of the Popcorn Club in 1948 (above, second from right), still swims in the club today — that’s Gini second from left, surrounded by a couple of 96-year-olds, Margarete Hicken and Lilian Greene. |
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Gini Doelle Tucker, now 90, began swimming at the YWCA when she was 8 years old. At 12, she received her Junior Lifesaving certification and started as a volunteer, teaching children’s swim lessons.
She has been involved at the YWCA ever since. Gini has taught water aerobics, swim lessons to all ages, yoga, arts and crafts, belly dancing, synchronized swimming, hiking and snowshoe groups, and tai chi.
To this day, Gini still comes swimming two times a week for the senior plunge. Her group is known as the Popcorn Club because they swim for an hour and then have coffee and popcorn in the cafeteria.
Sylvia Durrant, Gini’s older sister, was director of the Physical Education, Health and Recreation Department for 25 years (1947-72), while Gini was the assistant director for 20 years (1958-78). Both women retired from their respective positions at age 65.
Two other ladies, Lilian Greene and Margarete Hicken, both of whom are 96, have been swimming at the YWCA for the past 30 years. They are both members of the Popcorn Club. So is Grace Fitch, who was born in 1923, but didn’t take up swimming until 1981. Lilian, Margarete and Grace still do their synchronized swimming at the beginning of the workouts.
The members of the Popcorn Club all say their paths would not have crossed without the pool. It is the swimming that got them here, and the swimming, in addition to the friendships, that keeps them coming back.
— Traci Shepard
Salt Lake City, Utah
