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Mary Wallace Suspended For Trying to Defend Girls In Pool, Clarkstown’s Superintendent of Parks & Rec Says Lifeguards Just Doing Their Job
By Tina Traster
Mary Wallace, an 81-year-old cancer survivor, swims every day to keep her arthritis at bay and to stay mentally healthy. The Central Nyack resident’s go-to is Clarkstown’s Germonds Pool in West Nyack. Swimming 40 laps is her daily routine.
But her routine was interrupted when Matt Veronesi, Clarkstown’s Superintendent of Parks & Recreation, told Wallace by phone on Tuesday that she was suspended from the pool for three days after she injected herself in a discussion between a grandmother and lifeguards who had pulled two young children from the pool Monday for allegedly wearing inappropriate clothing in the water.
Wallace, a retired Legal Aid lawyer who has lived in Clarkstown since 1986, said she believes her First Amendment rights were trampled on and that she was denied due process. In contrast, Veronesi said Wallace interfered with the lifeguards who were trying to do their job. He also said Wallace has asserted herself in the past and so he gave her a three-day suspension from the pool. There is no mechanism to appeal the suspension.
Wallace, and another swimmer Lisa Schwartz, say the young lifeguards at Germonds Pool have been waging an aggressive and overreaching campaign this year, ejecting people from the pool who are not wearing traditional swimwear.
At issue is the material of the swimwear.
Veronesi says cotton is forbidden in the pool because the fibers break down in water, clog filters, and disrupt chemical balances. Also, the material becomes water-soaked and could present a threat if someone needed to be rescued. What’s less clear is whether polyester and spandex are permissible.
Veronesi says swimmers must have on swimwear that is specifically tagged and manufactured for swimming. The town code says, “No swimmer or bather shall enter the water or any adjacent bathing area unless clothed in a suitable bathing dress or suit.” There is no definition of “suitable”.
The code also provides for the loss of “park privileges” for violations of the code, and says enforcement is delegated to the Superintendent and the Superintendent’s designee.
“There has been a lot of confusion, more than ever, though the rules have not changed,” said Veronesi. “I’ve been here for three years. Clarkstown doesn’t make the rules. We follow the rules from the Rockland County Health Department.”
But RCBJ called the Rockland County Health Department’s Environmental Health. A person there said the county has no specific rules and they let the municipalities make their rules. A search of the Rockland County code found no published rules.
Rockland County Department of Health requires public pools to maintain strict water quality, but it gives individual facility operators the authority to set their own dress codes. Typically, prohibited materials include street clothes, cotton garments, denim, and heavy canvas.
Instead, swimmers are required are permitted to wear swimwear made of synthetic, non-absorbent materials like Lycra, Nylon, Polyester, or Spandex.
Lisa Schwartz says she’s been the subject of constant harassment this summer, having to prove repeatedly that the shirts and shorts she’s swimming in are not cotton.
“I feel like the lifeguards are watching me,” said Schwartz, who’s had to show a “gaggle of guards” that her shirts and shorts are made of polyester. In one incident, a lifeguard looked up the name of the label on her shorts to verify that they were suitable. She said the atmosphere at the pool has become tense and unpleasant.
On Monday, two girls around roughly 11 years old were told they were not properly dressed for the pool. Their guardian got angry about the girls being told to leave the pool. People gathered around the exchange, with tempers flaring because pool attendees believe this summer’s enforcement seems like overreach and is invasive. Veronesi said Wallace told the girls to ignore the lifeguards. She told RCBJ that she pointed out to the lifeguards that the girls were wearing athletic wear.
It is not clear what the girls’ gear was made of but they did leave the pool.
“What happened yesterday was that the girls were asked to leave the pool because they had cotton shorts on,” said Veronesi. “The mother got abusive with the staff. Another lady (Wallace) said, ‘you don’t have to listen.’ I talked to her today. I suspended her for interfering with the lifeguards, who are just following the rules.”
Veronesi continued, Mary Wallace got involved with something that has nothing to do with her,” he said. “She disregards the rules. I don’t want to suspend anyone.” He said he could have suspended her for a week or month, but it was only three days.
But three days without swimming for Wallace is a hardship.
Wallace is a life-long swimmer who swims 40 laps a day. She swam competitively as a youth and has relied on swimming to get her through everything.
“I’m a breast cancer survivor,” she said. Through it all, I have swum through every bit of it.”
But to Wallace, what’s even worse is that she believes she was denied due process, and plans to seek legal advice for redress.
“I’m considering suing for violation of my civil rights,” she said. “These rules seem like made-up rules. The way they’re going about enforcement seems arbitrary. It seems like overreach.”
