By Mckenna Graham
Photos by Matt Johnson
The perfume of summer hangs heavy in the muggy air as cicadas buzz emphatically from the thick tree canopy along Trevilian Way. Suddenly, there is an eruption of excitement in an otherwise sleepy and quiet Highlands neighborhood as droves of people appear walking in bathing suits carrying armfuls of colorful noodles and beach towels. If you’ve traveled along this thoroughfare in the warm months you may have seen the familiar parade- men, women, children, young and old, families and college students, servers and business people—all heading purposefully towards some unseen swimming hole. And if you’re one of the lucky ones, you may have found yourself walking through the iron gates and past the iconic gatehouse at Lakeside Swim Club.
As Lakeside celebrates a remarkable 100 years, it has become so much more than a place to find relief from the sweltering heat and humidity. For the generations who have called this their summer time retreat, it has come to define a special piece of life surrounded by their family, friends and community. It is a common thread that brings them all together each year to perform the rituals of summer… and while many things are different, much also remains delightfully unchanged from generation to generation.
“If you grew up there, you have a strong feeling about it,” says longtime Lakeside member Martha Puckett. Puckett, who is now seventy-nine (and a half, as she playfully puts it) has been swimming in the waters here since she was three years old and says, “As much as I feel a connection with Lakeside, everyone feels that same connection.” Puckett has been a resident of Eastview Avenue since 1969 when she and her husband purchased a “starter home” next to Lakeside as newlyweds. Now, many years (and several additions) later, they still call it home and Puckett is grateful for her close-knit neighborhood community that is “more than just a place to live”.
It’s this same sense of connection that Brigid Kaelin highlights in her recently released book, Lakeside: A History of Lakeside Swim Club. Kaelin quotes member Erin Gary who says, “Over the years, Lakeside has beenthe place to connect with family, schoolmates, neighbors, and pool friends. As a kid, I always loved splashing around with the neighborhood kids, and now, as an adult, I enjoy catching up with folks poolside.”
It’s strange to imagine, then, that the blue pristine waters and stunning 40-foot-tall cliff faces that comprise this legendary swimming hole, which was featured in a 2021 Sports Illustrated article, used to be just a humble onionfield. According to Kaelin’s Lakeside, the area served asfarmland from 1800 to 1923, first belonging to the Doup Family and later became the Kaelin family’s dairy farm. Although rock had probably been extracted from the limestone rich soil for many years, it wasn’t until the invention of dynamite that the small quarry expanded into a five-acre mining area, ultimately becoming a nuisance to the growing neighborhood. Residents resented the noise pollution created by the exploding dynamite and feared children would get hurt falling from the precarious cliffs.
The situation got worse before it got better when, sometime between 1918 and 1920, miners struck a spring and work screeched to a permanent halt as the quarry land rapidly filled with water, consuming the train tracks and other mining equipment. Neighbors now complained the swampy land was troublesome due to the mosquito ridden water and falling rocks.
Back in those early days of the 1920’s, Lakeside was known as ‘Highland Lake’ or ‘Spring Lake’ and the water was filled with cattails and water lilies. It was during 1924, the year the articles of incorporation were accepted, that 15,000 small mouth bass would be released into the lake. By 1926, the first member dues of $1.00 were assessed. Though chlorine would be added to the water much earlier, it was not until the 1970’s, according to Mary Graves, Lakeside’s General Manager, that the water would be totally clear and purified.
Graves, formerly Mary Tingley, is another fixture at Lakeside. The youngest of four children, Graves’s parents moved onto Eastview Avenue when her mother was pregnant with her. They became members that very next year in 1957. In her youth, she swam for the swim team, was one of Lakeside’s first female lifeguards in the 1970’s and was hired as Aquatic Operations manager in 1983 where she served until 2015 when she was appointed the club’s general manager.
“My dad was a member before he married my mom,” says Graves, “so he was first generation, then [my siblings and I] are second generation, our kids are third generation, and now we have grandkids who are fourth generation Lakesiders.” Over all these years, Graves has witnessed so much growth. She has gone from employing around thirty-five lifeguards in the 1980’s to nearly 100 lifeguards now; she has overseen and championed modernization efforts and facility upgrades and instituted new dry land programming like yoga and aerobic classes. She has also been around for most of the eleven Olympic athletes that have trained here at Lakeside, including current Olympian Mariah Denigan who is expected to compete in Paris. But it’s talking about the Lakeside kids that really makes Graves light up.
“Lakeside is an imaginary place” she says wistfully. Then pointing to one of the stone overhangs by the water’s edge, she continues, “The kids call this little stone ‘mermaid island.’ We want to encourage imaginary play. It’s fun to hear the kids say, ‘I’m going to the big ice cube’ or ‘I’m swimming into blue water today!’’ Maybe it’s this childlike sense of wonder and fun that Lakeside inspires in people that makes it such a magical place. No matter how old you are, when you return to Lakeside you feel a little like a kid again.
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