The lifeguards are trained. The waters are primed. The only ingredients missing from the Lawrence Outdoor Aquatic Center are swimmers, splashers and sun-soakers.

But more than 5,000 of them are expected to break the pool’s still waters this Memorial Day weekend, when the aquatic center opens its doors to the summer swimming season under forecasted sunny skies.

“Everyone’s excited. We all turn back into little kids going back to the summers when we were waiting for the first day of the pool to open,” said Jimmy Gibbs, aquatics supervisor for Lawrence Parks and Recreation. “It always has been kind of a milepost that when the pool opens, that’s when summer starts.”

The outdoor pool, at 727 Ky., will be open from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. daily from Saturday until school starts next fall, when the hours will shift to 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. through Labor Day. Admission prices will remain the same this year: $1.25 for children 5 to 12; $2.50 for children 13 to 17; and $3.75 for adults. Children 4 and under are free with a paid adult.

Though an admission price hike at the start of the 2001 swimming season and elimination of the family pass option had some regular poolgoers saying they would no longer be able to afford the pool, Gibbs said attendance was higher last year than the previous year.

Individual monthly and annual passes are available for $14 and $128 respectively and are good at all three of the city’s aquatics facilities, including the Carl Knox Natatorium at Lawrence High School, 1901 La. Discount booklets that contain 30 days worth of passes can be purchased for $30.

“Once you put it down on paper, it really is economical as compared to many other things you can do in Lawrence,” Gibbs said.

The outdoor pool might get an added boost this weekend from swimmers who haven’t been able to use the Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center, 4706 Overland Drive, since it closed May 17 for routine maintenance, Gibbs said. It’s set to re-open June 3.

Though temperatures are only expected to climb into the low 70s during the holiday weekend, Gibbs fully expects the outdoor pool to be hopping.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s raining or if it’s cold,” he said. “There are always people who want to be there for the first day.”