AUBURN - Difficult as it may be to believe, warm weather isn't too far off.

With increased temperatures, more and more people will be spending their time cooling off in the pool or at the lake.

And from the beginner to the more experienced swimmer, many will be turning to the YMCA for instruction in everything from safety to learning how to become a stronger swimmer.

Since taking over as aquatics director in September, Nancy Wesselmann has been using her time to assess the needs of the YMCA community.

“For me there has been a lot of time spent getting to know the area,” Wesselmann said. “I've been getting to know the area and what the needs of the people are. It is kind of a different culture from where I'm from in Atlanta. So I've been working to see what is working for people here and what isn't working and what we need and what we can improve on.”

Wesselmann has spent the last 13 years working for the YMCA organization in Atlanta, where she spent a great deal of time as a tri-athlete.

“I moved here to work at this Y,” Wesselmann said. “But I've worked for the Y for a long time and I've always been pretty athletic. I've done a lot of triathlons; I've been a rower, a runner, pretty much everything. I just started looking into what is available around here the other day. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but I know I will definitely be doing at least one this year.”

Wesselmann has been able to incorporate her own passion for triathlons into some new programs at the YMCA.

Starting the end of April, the YMCA will be hosting an adult swim stroke clinic for swimmers ages 18-and-up.

“This is for people looking to improve,” Wesselmann said. “This is for people that already know how to swim and are looking to improve their stroke and become stronger swimmers and who are looking to get in shape for things like triathlons and are getting ready to compete.”

Wesselmann said at one point the YMCA did have a program geared toward this, but she said interest in it waned and she felt it was time to revive it.

“People have already shown interest in it,” Wesselmann said. “I know they did something like this at one point a few years ago, but we haven't offered anything like this in a while, so I thought it would be something that would be good to start up again.”

Wesselmann hopes to be able to expand on this first step and evolve it into a master swim team program.

“That would be something for people looking to work out or who have hit a plateau and are looking to get stronger,” Wesselmann said. “This would give people a chance to meet with a coach and work out specific workouts and work on drills to get stronger and not just get in the pool and do laps, but really work on strokes and their breathing and things like that.”

Wesselmann said whether it is a competitive swimmer or someone just looking to get in better shape the pool offers people a very intensive workout.

“When you are swimming you aren't just using you arms to pull through the water or just kicking,” Wesselmann said. “It is a different kind of workout than the treadmill or the elliptical machine. You are using all your core muscles and using rhythmic breathing and getting a full body workout.”

As the weather improves, Wesselmann said the YMCA will also be hosting a variety of classes for swimmers of all ages.

“As it gets warmer people want to spend more time swimming,” Wesselmann said. “So we are going to have swim classes for the younger kids. We are going to be doing some things to teach water safety and things like that to make sure kids know what they are doing and are able to be safe and have fun when they are swimming.”

In the next few months, the YMCA will also be hosting lifeguarding classes.

“We are going to be doing some lifeguard classes in May,” Wesselmann said. “We are always looking for lifeguards here and we are going to be looking for lifeguards and camp councilors for our summer camp. So there is going to be a lot going on.”

Wesselmann also said that because of other obligation, coach John Dalziel will not be able to return to the Stingrays next season and she will be looking for someone to take over his role with the team.

“We have had a very successful program,” Wesselmann said. “It is a fairly demanding job; the coach will be working with close to 100 kids. And we are going to be looking for someone that knows how to work with the kids and help them improve and who knows how to taper them in time for states and help them become stronger swimmers and help us keep our team strong.”

With so much going on, Wesselmann is anticipating a busy spring and summer season.

“There is going to be a lot going on around here,” Wesselmann said. “From lessons to lifeguards to other classes we are going to be pretty busy with everything we do around here this summer.”