Shrieks of joy, splashing water, staying fit and halal fun—the opening of Diyanet Center Fitness Center in Prince George’s County, Maryland has normalized segregated swimming for the people of DMV. In times where the burkini is banned in Cannes and segregated swim classes cause furor at county government meetings, the DCA Fitness Center is a blessing.
On a Tuesday evening, 40 women—grandmothers, babies, tweens and college students—swam in the evening session. Friends and community members caught up with each other after summer travels.
Hannan of Hyattsville, MD grew up swimming in her community pool. After she accepted Islam, she missed being able to swim. “It’s a blessing,” she says about the DCA pool. She does water aerobics to keep fit and is excited that there are lap swim only hours for serious swimmers.
“I love the facility,” says a sister who drives down from Bowie on a weekly basis. Firdaus Ahmed of Rockville, MD brought her cousin who was visiting from Toronto. It takes her 40 minutes to drive to the center but she has bought a family membership and plans to come swimming with her college age daughter.
Fatima, 8, is from Lanham. she needs to go pray isha in the masjid before her parents will take her home. It's 10:00 and she is yawning, exerted from playing the water for two hours. “I like it, I get to swim and meet my Muslim friends from PGMA,” she yells. The only thing that she doesn't like about the pool is that the water sometimes gets too cold and makes her brother, Salih, shiver.
“Nice pool,” says Madiha, a teacher from Sterling. She was in Lanham visiting cousins and the girls decided to drive to the pool for a fun night out. She wishes they had kickboards available so people could practice their swimming. It was her first time swimming after a long time.
With an Olympic size swimming pool, a gymnasium, workout room, and studio room the DCA Fitness Center set up a schedule so that the facility can be used by men and women on alternating days. Hours are currently limited but management is working on hiring more staff to accommodate extended hours.
A family membership for six costs $500 annually and gives the members access to the separate saunas, workout rooms and the swimming pool. Individual and student memberships are also available. Children under 14 have to be accompanied by an adult.
The facility is large and needs a professionally managed pool. If the pool is not maintained properly, it cuts the lifespan in half, say experts. Amin S. Abdullah is the Pool Manager and a Red Cross certified swim instructor.
“I have license for pool operation,” he says. Abdullah works with a team of three other pool operators. There are 4 male lifeguards and 3 female lifeguards. Segregation does come with issues. Since there are no female pool operators, cleaning up the pool before the next session is a problem. Cleaning hair out of the pool is also a concern as the drain gets clogged. There are 8 skimmers but strain baskets need to be emptied regularly. Abdullah wishes swimming caps were mandatory.
“This opportunity is tremendous and a blessing from Allah. We have to do everything possible to make this work. We can’t allow this to fail,” he added.
“Swimming is great exercise that is easy on the joints,” notes a local Muslim doctor who refers her patients to the center.
A certified male fitness trainer is on staff at the center for the brothers - Br Omari. The sisters have Zumba, yoga and aerobics classes. Water aerobics as well as beginning swimming classes for 14 years + are held twice a week for $70 per person. Members get a discounted rate on all classes.
The Turkish bath and Hamam Day Spa is also open for both men and women. For $50, an attendant will wash and massage you. Organic soaps and traditional coverings called petemal are on sale at the Hammam.
Under the DCA Active banner, the center offers fitness and aquatic classe and summer camps.
“We have a unique community and our needs are unique,” say Abdullah.
Diyanet Center of America is located on 9704 Good Luck Rd Lanham MD 20706.
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