Summer in the '70s -- Remember when TV 2 Swim Mobiles used to visit Detroit neighborhoods?

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Back in the 1970s, TV 2 Swim Mobiles, portable swimming pools, would visit Detroit neighborhoods on hot summer days.

"The TV 2 Swim Mobiles are back in service, a sure sign that summer has arrived," TV 2 reporter Linda Wright-Avery said.

The program started back in 1968 with two pools on wheels owned by Detroit Parks and Recreation. Then TV 2 joined in the fun and more Swim Mobiles were added to the fleet.

"The 1977 grand opening was reason enough for Mayor Coleman Young to show up and shake hands with residents in the Prairie and 6 Mile area and talk about recreation," TV 2 reporter Woody Willis said.

Young marked the occasion.

"The summer promises to be very hot, and this water as you can tell is cool. It attracts young people who in many cases don't have anywhere else to go," he said.

Six mobile pools visited 12 neighborhoods each day with a lifeguard on duty.

"The thing I like about it is the kids have a good time, and it's a safe kind of way for them to swim but the lifeguards and instructors are really going to do some teaching," a resident said at the time.

Fast-forward more than 40 years and the TV 2 Swim Mobile is a thing of the past, but learning to swim never goes out of style and is an important skill for everyone to learn.

"Learning to swim is a life skill. Not only is it a life skill, it's about health as well," Michael Williams said.

Williams is a manager with Detroit's Parks and Recreation Division. He remembers going in the TV 2 Swim Mobile as a child.

"We would be waiting our turn to get into the swim mobile," he said. "It was just wonderful. Everybody had the opportunity - the Swim Mobile would be there for a full day and give us all the access that we needed."

Williams would love to see the funding for swim mobiles to reach children throughout the city, but for now, he says the Brennan Pool at Rouge Park is the city's only outdoor pool, but there are six other facilities with indoor pools that offer swimming lessons year-round.

These swim lessons are for all ages and there's a waiting list at Detroit's pools for those lessons. They are in desperate need of lifeguards.

"Nobody's too old, too young, or anything like that to learn how to swim," Williams said. "There's nothing like it on a hot day, seeing kids out here having the kind of fun they're having here today."

For more information on swim lessons call 313-224-1100.