ARANSAS PASS, Texas — Pools across the Coastal Bend are opening up for the summer season including the Aransas Pass Aquatic Center.
Following last summer's tragic drowning of a child, the aquatic center is implementing a new swim test for kids under 18.
Faith Davila celebrated her daughter's birthday at the aquatic center, and she says this new swimming test rule assures her that everyone at the pool will be safe this summer.
"You know, in our minds we think our kids are strong swimmers but in reality, they might not be, but these tests are something I think are needed," Davila said.
Davila and her daughter are just one of thousands that visit the Aransas Pass Aquatic Center with three water slides and thee pools, making it a popular summer attraction for the season.
With the tragic drowning of a little girl last summer, Kaylynn Paxtons says that this year, pool goers can expect some changes before taking a dip in the water.
"A couple of things that we are implementing this season that we feel are best practice are those swim test for everybody under 18, are those breaks- we're having everybody under 18 taking a break," Paxton said.
Operations manager Jessika Hinojosa said every child that walks through the doors of the aquatic center will be given a swim test.
"For all of our swim test, we got to make sure that it's not stop. Everyone is swimming either a breaststroke or front crawl, arms over water. No doggy paddling, or swimming under the water," Hinojosa said. "We need to make sure these kids are able to swim proficiently."
Swimmers will be assigned color band depending on how they did on their swimming test to let lifeguards know what swimming capabilities the kids have.
"For our diving boards and slides, we have a blue band. That is a height requirement, we make sure that they're over 48 inches limit," Hinojosa said. "If they have a yellow band and blue band, they're able to access slides. And if they have a green band, they're able to access diving boards, slides, all of the pools."
Hinojosa encourages every kid to try the swim test and if they're not able to pass to a certain color, lifeguards are willing to work with them to reach that color eventually.
"We'll do swim test every single day. This is not we're here one day and it's good for the rest of the week," Hinojosa."Mainly because we're not sure if everyone's swimming abilities are going to be the same every single day."
Giving many parents a sense of relief before their kid takes a splash.
"I think it's excellent that they're implementing the bracelets and they're even taking their information down," Davila said.