This year, Cordova Recreation & Park District (CRPD) has joined other parks and recreation agencies state-wide in recognizing Parks Make Life Better!® Month (PMLB Month). Parks Make Life Better!® Month is a celebration of Parks and Recreation, as a community service, and a demonstration of how these services model compassion and inclusivity, and promote social equity and networking.
In celebration of PMLB Month, CRPD has chosen to highlight one community member, weekly, showcasing community pride, recognizing individual contributions and encouraging younger generations.
Part 2: Carol, Cody and the Cordova swim Community
If birds of a feather flock together, then fish from the same water swim together. Carol Kraus and her family are the perfect example of this.
TRADITION
Carol, the Cordova Blue Marlin’s Board of Director’s Registrar, has been a part of CRPD’s community for most of her life. If she wasn’t living in the District, she was visiting regularly to see family. “Even though I’ve lived in different places, I’ve always had family in the area and came back almost every year to visit my mom or sister in the summer. On these trips, I would take my nephew to the Cordova Community Pool to swim, just like had been done for me,” Carol said.
While some families make it a summer tradition to visit iconic destinations like Hawaii or big amusement parks, Carol’s family lives and breathes their community events and swimming. “Growing up I spent all my summers at Hagan Community Park, because we lived on Ambassador Drive. While my parents worked, my eldest sister took care of us. And what do you do on a hot day? We’d walk down the street to the full pool complex to use our pool punch card or hit the river by Hagan. Plus, every year we’d go to the 4th of July celebration. I still walk to it this day,” Carol said.
STAYING IN YOUR LANE
When Carol decided to return to the Cordova community permanently, she not only reconnected with her initial support system, but found avenues for herself to become more involved and advantageous relationships for her son. “As my son, Cody, got older and more interested in sports, his best friend, Tom Higdon, encouraged him to join the swim team. Which, of course, I was on board with being back here where I fell in love with swim,” Carol said.
Cody had acquired the “fish gene,” as Carol calls it, and followed in his mother’s footsteps. He joined the Marlins at age 9 and swam competitively until he graduated from high school. After graduation, Cody decided to attend CSU Bakersfield, but wanted to remain involved with the Cordova swim community on his summer breaks at home.
“I became a swim instructor with CRPD 3-4 years ago. But I remember the turning point came after coaching one year of the Marlins. I kept thinking ‘I’d have to leave this to go back to Bakersfield’ and, to me, it was like why don’t I go to school in this area so I can continue coaching and teaching. I was already so involved in the community, you know. I wanted to stay so I could continue passing on my knowledge to younger swimmers and keep those important relationships, those that raised me, nearby,” Cody said.
THERAPEUTIC
Cody gushed about the kids he instructs, as another huge reason he decided to transfer to CSU Sacramento from Bakersfield and return to this community. “I love those moments when kids break that wall of being able to get their face under the water. It’s so exciting and rewarding to see them so happy about obtaining a new skill. Being a source of positive reinforcement for these kids is what it is all about,” Cody said.
While swim is both an athletic outlet and career path for Cody, and was a major part of Carol’s upbringing, it has also been vital to their family’s health. When Carol’s youngest son and Cody’s younger brother, Joshua, was diagnosed with Perthese Disease, swimming became physical therapy along with a beloved family activity. “Perthese is so challenging for a young kid because it means no sharp impacts and severely limits activity. Try telling your little one they can’t enjoy bounce houses! But we’re really lucky because he loved swimming just like the rest of his family, so while it was therapy, it was also a truly enjoyable activity for him,” Carol said.
After overcoming adversity, Joshua joined the Marlins at age 10 just like his brother, friends and neighbors.
MORE THAN BLOOD
The Cordova swim community is a family environment. Blood-related or not, an inclusive feeling is evoked from participants, Board Members, coaches and CRPD staff, as well. “It takes everyone to raise these kids, whether they are our swim athletes or their siblings at meets, we all have to take care of each other. It takes a village, and our village is Cordova,” Carol said.
Cody also feels the people he works with have shaped him and hold the same family dynamic he felt while swimming for the Marlins. “The fact that staff, both who trained me and who I work with, grew up here and swam with the Marlins too, you can feel that everyone cares about each other and the swimming experience. Whether I was on the swim team, a coach, a lifeguard or a swim instructor with CRPD, everyone involved has an incredible family dynamic. Each summer we come together to make this program happen. It’s cool because we’re not just coworkers, we’re all friends and bond in making this program not only possible, but fun for the kids,” Cody said.
Both Carol and Cody reiterated that there’s more to the community than swimming that makes them feel at home. “The joy of parks is there’s always something cool going on, and always something to do. It’s hard to zero in on one thing that stands out here because we’ve had so many incredible memories in this community, especially at Hagan Park” Carol said. “A huge reason I returned to the District is because I missed being able to grab a friend and head to the park, or the river,” Cody added. “Plus, I have my network here to support me while I'm finishing school and working.”