In the white heat of Friday afternoon, the sapphire-blue waters of the pool at Honolulu’s McCully District Park looked inviting as Manoa resident Jonathan Oba smoothly swam its 25-yard length, barely disturbing the glassy surface.

It was the first day city pools reopened after their closure March 19 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As he hadn’t been swimming in 2-1/2 months, “I’m a little tired,” said Oba, 22. He paused after covering 700 yards for a rest in the shallow end, then broke into a big, relaxed smile as he folded his muscular arms on the pool’s immaculate concrete rim.

“It feels really nice,” said the University of Hawaii- Manoa junior, who worked part time as a lifeguard and swimming teacher at the YMCA before the coronavirus lockdown. “It was hard to exercise at home, doing pushups.”

As a lap swimmer, Oba was a member of an exclusive group in the newly reopened city pools, whose use was restricted to lap swimming only, in one-hour sessions, with only one swimmer per 6-foot-wide lane at a time, as required by new rules set by the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation.

At the moment there were swimmers in only two of the McCully pool’s five lanes, but in the morning from 9 a.m. to noon, according to pool manager Derek Lee, there had been five swimmers per hour.

The hour includes changing and showering — and, according to rules posted at the pools, you have to be out of the facility by five minutes before the end of the hour; each lane has a number corresponding to a cubbyhole in a stack outside the locker rooms where the swimmer’s personal belongings are stored.

Oba was especially happy to be back in the water, he said, because he’d avoided the ocean, although it was open to exercisers, because he worried about coronavirus exposure: “I figured that’s where lots of people go.”

Melissa Lockyer, the other swimmer in the pool, said she’d been swimming in the ocean off Kaimana Beach, “where it’s usually crowded, and especially now.”

Although she’s a strong swimmer, who sometimes swam offshore with a group of friends from Kaimana Beach to the Royal Hawaiian Resort, she preferred a pool, where she felt safe swimming alone, as opposed to the ocean with currents and sometimes big waves, said the 39-year-old St. Louis Heights resident, who teaches at Maryknoll High School.

“I’m happy to be back in this wonderful cool water — nice, clean, refreshing, “ Lockyer said, “and we know the likelihood of the virus surviving in water is low.”

She and Oba expressed gratitude to the city and pool staff for the precautions they were taking to ensure social distancing and cleanliness.

When the swimmers got out of the pool, lifeguards Courtney Oh, Brad Lilo and Maddie Nejad took turns spraying sanitizer on the pool deck and railings, wiping down surfaces in the showers and locker rooms, and monitoring pedestrian flow around the pool and exit and entry doors to ensure people didn’t brush too close.

While park pools were currently reopening only for individual lap swimmers, the city announced that team sports and practices would be permitted at select pools starting June 19, and, although no announcement has as yet been made, children’s summer fun programs have traditionally included some swimming in park pools.

Standing in the McCully recreation center parking lot after she had swum, showered and dressed, Lockyer’s eyes shone above the face mask that pool users are required to wear while coming or going.

“It was amazing to have a full hour with my own lane,” she said.

For lap swimmers the luxury of personal space in the pool may be a brief window, but it’s one they’ll savor as much as they can after a long dry spell.

POOL REOPENING RULES AND NEWS

Entry is on a first-come, first-served basis, based on signing in, and face coverings are required when arriving and leaving; all pools are reopening except for three closed for maintenance at Waialua, Waipahu and Pearl City district parks, the city Department of Parks and Recreation said in a statement.

Schedules are dependent upon available staff, particularly pool lifeguards, who are needed, said DPR spokesman Nate Serota. DPR is still hiring for these part-time positions, and for the first time 16- and 17-year-olds are able to be employed to work in these positions. To learn more about pool hours or applying for jobs, call the pool location where you would like to work or swim; numbers and addresses are listed at honolulu.gov/parks/default/pool-locations.html#gsc.tab=0bit.ly/HonoluluPools.

DPR announced Friday that permitted outdoor team sports practices and drills can begin June 19 with an approved DPR permit. This includes, but is not limited to, canoe club practices and swim team reservations of city pools; applications for permits will be accepted for outdoor park facility use beginning today for June and July only.

In city parks, permitted team sport competitions and games can begin July 3 with an approved DPR permit. This includes swim team reservations of city pools and baseball, softball, soccer and similar outdoor team sports. It does not include activities that require sustained close contact such as wrestling, boxing and mixed martial arts.

Previously approved permits for permitted sports will be honored; for more information, visit honolulu.gov/parks/#gsc.tab=0.