by KYW's Brad Segall and Pat Loeb
The president of a Montgomery County, Pa. swim club at the center of a swirling controversy over allegations of racism says the club didn’t discriminate against kids from a Northeast Philadelphia day camp.
John Duesler says club members and officials are saddened by the allegations that the kids from Creative Steps weren’t welcome at the Valley Swim Club because of the color of their skin.
For the first time, he says, the club invited several camps to use the pool but quickly found out they couldn’t handle it:
"There were just too many children for us to handle. This was a safety situation. Many of these children were not able to swim -- most of them were not able to swim -- and we were just overwhelmed with the sheer number of children that came to our club.”
He says the Valley Club is a private club but a diverse one that has some minorities as members.
The kids -- mostly black and Hispanic -- say they heard racial comments when they were at the club. The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission is now investigating.
On Thursday, about 30 people (above) protested the club's decision to cancel swimming privileges for the Creative Steps day camp after the camp's first visit. The club decided to close its doors for the day, but reopened Friday with no sign of protesters.
Spencer Lewis was one of the first people outside the club for the protest on Thursday:
"It's just amazing that in 2009 when there is a black person in the White House, his kids wouldn't be allowed to swim here."
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