When I was back in Pittsburgh last week, one of the places that I revisited was the
Chapel Gate Swim Club . Our family were members of Chapel Gate for many years. I, too, was briefly on their swim team but swimming was not really the reason that I went there. I went to play bridge. I went even on rainy days because the life guards still had to be there and it was mostly the life guards that I played with; the McCrady brothers, the Taylor brothers, Melanie ? and Jennifer ?. It was the perfect arrangement. The life guards would play during their off time. They rotated in and out of life guarding and bridge playing. Many of them came to the club on their off days. The person that had the dummy hand would take a quick swim to cool off and then come back for the next hand. I remember the year that I worked in the steel mill in Oakmont that I would not even go home when I was done at 4 o'clock. I would go to Chapel Gate to take my shower and get some swimming and bridge in before dinner. Often I would return after dinner for more of the same.
As you can see from the picture, Chapel Gate does not look all that different. The clubhouse is much bigger and tennis courts have been added where we used to play volleyball ( I remember that many times the 'old' men would play against us young guys and kick our butts consistently). The high diving board is gone and the entrance to the club is now almost totally hidden from Glen David Drive by trees. There is just one small stone pillar with a sign that says “Chapel Gate Swim Club”. Other than that, it looks pretty much the same. The club was not open at the time I took the picture so I could only get parking lot shots. Anyway, it brought back many fond memories.
