CITY GIVES RESIDENTS 33 WAYS TO BEAT HEAT THIS SUMMER.

Byline: CONNIE LLANOS  Special to the Daily News

With temperatures hitting the mid-90s in the San Fernando Valley, hundreds of kids and adults alike splashed away the heat Saturday as Los Angeles opened its 33 seasonal public pools for the summer.

Preni Sinaei, 16, and her sister Melanie, 10, swam at the Sun Valley park pool every day last summer and were back at the pool Saturday.

``My favorite part of the summer is swimming,'' Preni said.

In its eighth year, the Free Swim Program lets youngsters under 17 and seniors over 65 attend Los Angeles city-owned pools for free. This year, L.A. library cardholders also can swim for free.

Anticipating a typically warm summer in the Southland, city officials are ready for crowds.

``We're gonna get a good start this year,'' said Joe Batarse, aquatic director for the Department of Parks and Recreation. ``It's gonna be a hot one.''

Last year, about 1.4 million people used the pools citywide, Batarse said, and this year should see just as many people.

Long lines filled the entryway at North Hollywood's Valley Plaza pool, mostly parents seeking to enroll their children in swimming lessons.

This year, a $1.2 million partnership with Kaiser-Permanente -- called Operation Splash -- will extend the swimming pool season by two weeks beyond the usual Labor Day closing date.

It also will provide free swim lessons and swimming supplies for some youths and adults.

For many parents, the pool summer season is about giving their kids something to do while they are out of school.

Juana Mendoza said it lets her keep tabs on her 20-year-old son and 6- year-old daughter at the same time.

``We are here very often in the summer,'' Mendoza said. ``I'd rather have my son in the water than on the streets.''

The day didn't go without its kinks. In Sun Valley, the pool was only open for an hour before it was closed again because of ``cloudy water.''

The problem, caused by dried-up plaster during the winter off-season, is pretty routine, manager Michael Shanto said.

``I guess I'll go back home and sleep,'' said Jesse Sanchez, 14.

Sanchez, who has been a regular at the Sun Valley pool for the last six years, said he was upset the pool had to close, but it wouldn't stop him from coming back.

``It's hot, man,'' Sanchez said. ``It's always hot.''

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3 photos

Photo:

(1) Michael Gilad, 10, takes a dive at the deep end Saturday at the Los Angeles Parks and Recreation city pool in Woodland Hills on the first day that nearly three dozen city pools were open for the summer season.

(2 -- 3) At top, Michelle Read gives daughter Bella, 3, a swimming lesson on opening day at the Los Angeles Parks and Recreation city pool in Woodland Hills on Saturday. Above, area children flocked to the pool on the first day 33 city-owned pools were open for the summer season, which this year runs past Labor Day. The city's Free Swim Program lets kids under 17, seniors over 65 and L.A. library cardholders take a dip in the pools without a fee.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer