During hot, humid Mississippi summers, the city of Vicksburg offers residents the opportunity to don their bathing suits, slather on sunscreen and find cool relief from the heat through the Vicksburg City Pool.

After weeks of preparation for the summer crowds, the pool will begin its season Monday and will be open to the public from 1-5 p.m. from Monday through Sunday, said Sylivia Gurtowski, the city’s facility manager and aquatics director.

Gurtowski and her team of 21 lifeguards have been hard at work over the last few weeks, preparing the pool for its three months of fame.

“We don’t joke around,” she said. “We take the preparations very seriously.”

Gurtowski said preparations included anything from fixing maintenance issues, such as repairing busted pipes and portions of the pool pump, to mopping the bathrooms and readying all areas of the pool for the large crowds, which she said can range anywhere from 120 to 300 people per day.

“We’ve reached our capacity of 225 several times during the summer,” she said.

Beginning June 6, the pool will be open for family swim, a quieter environment for families with children, from 6:45-8 p.m. from Monday through Friday, and the first round of swim lessons will also begin.

The three swim lesson sessions offered this summer, which run June 6-17, June 27-July 8 and July 18-29, are held for 45 minutes every weekday and cost $12 per person, with options for both children and adults. Gurtowski said more than 300 people are already signed up for the classes.

“You can’t beat a deal like that,” she said. “I have to hand it to the city. They keep the prices low because we feel that everyone should be able to learn to swim.”

Gurtowski noted that enforcing the use of bathing suits versus street clothing will be the safety rule the staff focuses on most this summer.

“[Street clothes] cause problems for the pool and for the swimmer,” she said. “Cotton absorbs water and weighs down the swimmer. It also has fibers that come off of the clothing and clog up our filters. If they are wearing clothes not meant for the pool and are swimming near the drain, the clothing could be sucked in by the drain, so the rule is very important.”

Other pool rules include no horseplay, running or diving. An adult guardian must also accompany children under 12.

“We have rules for public safety,” Gurtowski said. “We want everyone to be safe, and we want everyone to be comfortable here.”

Chris Sanders, a 19-year-old Louisiana Tech University student, will be one of the nine lifeguards on duty at any given time that will work to protect visitors and enforce the pool rules.

“I always came to the pool when I was a little kid, and I didn’t realize what went into making the pool habitable for the public,” he said. “I feel like I’m doing a public service.”

For more information on pool hours, rules or swim lesson, call (601) 634-4516.