Despite minor flaws, pool is great for all

With the completion of the new pool, the swim team has been able to return to holding practices and meets here at school, having had its second meet, a home meet, against Mills on March 17.

“It’s really nice. They did a nice job,” says freshman swimmer Brianna Keeling. “It adds a lot of color to Aragon, because it used to be black and now it’s blue and clear.”

The new pool is 60 feet wide (8 lanes wide) by 114 feet long, and the masthead sections off the competition area to be 75 feet (25 yards) long. The remainder of the swimming pool can be used for swimmers to warm up for their meets. Coach Fred Farley says, “We can move the bulkhead to accommodate different length courses [and] water polo. We can also swim in the lanes behind the bulkhead. So it gives us a lot more flexibility.”

Sophomore and two-year swimmer Wyatt Cooper agrees, saying, “Probably one of the more beneficial changes is the new warm up pool created by the bulkhead, because no one ever wanted to warm up in the old side pool due to it being small and having no lanes.”

Freshman Alison Clark says, “It is really helpful having two more lanes and the 20 yard lanes at the end because it’s much less crowded.”

“The old [swimming pool] was 50 years old,” says Farley. “It was falling apart. There was a crack in the bottom and it was leaking water constantly. There was mold growing on the bottom. It was small.”

“It’s a lot nicer to swim in,” says junior Melina Sacchi. “It was very necessary to get a new pool. The older pool was negatively affecting the environment because it was leaking clean water. There was a time when our P.E. class had to run the final instead of swim it because it was a ‘health hazard’ to swim in the pool. The little side pool wasn’t safe or hygienic.”

Junior Karol Ruiz says, “[The new pool is] much better than the old pool because there’s more space, so it feels better. We needed an upgrade to the old pool. The old pool was nice, but we needed an upgrade.”

While new and renovated, the pool is not completely free of problems. Last week, the water failed to filter due to the water level being too low, and the pool was subsequently filled with hose water.

Senior Priscilla Young says, “Two weeks into swimming, it was clear. Then all of a sudden it was murky. It’s terrible to swim in. You can’t see in it.”

Junior Ben Lewis says, “It’s a little cloudy…[the water is] not being filtered. But I still love it. I love to get in the pool. It’s my first year [on the team] but swimming is just so much fun. I look forward to it every day.”

With the new pool in place, the swim team can now look forward to the rest of the season. “We’re starting out well,” says Farley.

“We have a lot more depth this year,” says Farley. “We have some juniors and seniors that are kind of leading the charge, and everybody else is doing well.”

Says Farley, “The new pool is a fantastic upgrade from the old pool, but still needs some minor adjustments.”