Just how badly does Gunn need a new pool?

The current 25-by-25 meter L-shaped pool houses four water polo teams in the fall and over 100 swimmers in the spring, not to mention various other activities throughout the year. It has space for only one full-court water polo scrimmage. This inconvenience wouldn’t be so bad if the pool were deep, but at a depth of 3.5 feet, the shallow end hinders play.

These are just some of the problems with the aging facility. A new pool will hopefully provide safer facilities with more space and better water quality.

Swimming in rough water

With four teams and only one partly shallow full-length court, practice time is a luxury for water polo players. A staggered practice schedule that stretches past dusk lets the varsity boys’, varsity girls’ and JV girls’ teams to practice for two hours each. The JV boys vacate the pool by 5:00 so the girls can practice, cutting their practice short by 30 minutes.

Freshman Michael Buchman and the rest of the JV boys water polo team only get extended practices when other teams have away matches. “When [the girls] don’t have an away match, we can only practice until five,” he said.

Where the pool is only 3.5 feet deep, treading water is difficult. “A lot of officials don’t like to officiate games here because having to referee the shallow end is difficult,” assistant boys’ water polo coach Aaron Cavagnolo said. “In the three feet end, it is ridiculous not to touch the bottom.”

Senior Tom Cantwell, who is on varsity boys’ water polo, says the shallow pool makes it hard to prepare for matches. “Playing water polo in a half shallow pool is a problem because most pools are deep the entire way,” he said. “It’s hard to avoid standing on the bottom.”

The girls’ teams face the same problem, says varsity head coach Maria Zavala. “It’s a struggle because the bottom is always there and the girls stand on it even though they know they’re not supposed to,” she said. “One of [the teams] always has to practice in the shallow end.”

Also, with practices ending at 7:00, it is hard to navigate the poorly-lighted pool, says senior Di Eaton of varsity girls’ water polo. “It’s dark when we get out and it’s really cold,” Eaton said. “There are no lights in the pool, so it’s really hard to see the ball.”

A tale of two pools

After years of fundraising, though, the campaign for a new pool has reached a milestone. In August, with a $9,000 donation from the class of 2005, the New Pool Committee raised the $250,000 needed for an architect’s rendering of a new pool. A drawing will be completed in early 2006, after the committee decides on the size of the pool, according to New Pool Committee chair David Moss.

“Once we agree on the size of the pool, then we will know the amount we need to raise, either $2.1 million for the 35-meter pool or the $3.6 million for the 50-meter pool, and we can begin to contact donors in earnest,” Moss said. “We would love to have a donor step forward like the one at Paly High, and will even name the pool in their honor.”

So far, the Boosters have relied on donations from over 1000 donors, but has not attracted any substantial single donations. Paly successfully attracted three lead donors who paid for much of the $1.8 million, 35-meter pool, which is expected to be completed on Nov. 15.

According to Barb Champion, who spearheaded Paly’s new pool campaign, Paly settled for a 35-meter pool due to the lack of space and demand. “If we were to go to a 50-meter design, we’d have to knock buildings down,” Champion said. “We also discovered in research of area pools that a high school does not need a 50-meter pool.”

Is bigger better?

The question now isn’t whether Gunn will get a new pool, but how big it will be. The Boosters are aiming 50-meters. Responding to school board member Mandy Lowell’s inquiries on the merits of a 50-meter pool, the New Pool Committee wrote, “Where teams with 50-meter pools can have two full practices at a time, even a 35 meter pool can’t reasonably squeeze two practices at a time… A bigger pool means the entire team, JV and varsity, can have a place to work out.” Unlike a 35-meter pool, a 50-meter pool can also host tournaments, which generate revenue.

Freshman JV girls water polo player Beverly Yu favors 50 meters. “Usually in swim competitions, you swim 50 meters—you don’t swim 15 or 35 meters,” Yu said. “They’re not known laps in the swim world.”

After some thought, Zavala also wants to pursue 50 meters. “Bigger is always better,” she said. “If the cost can be resolved, then I’d rather have the 50 meter.”

However, some feel that the demand does not justify a 50-meter pool, including junior Chris Preston of varsity boys water polo. “Honestly, (I’d choose) 35 meters because 50 meters is not 100 percent necessary and it’s too expensive,” Preston said.

Head varsity boys water polo coach Mark Hernandez believes a 35-meter pool is more feasible. “As of right now, the finances might make a 50-meter pool much more difficult than a 35.”

A meeting with the School Property Committee tomorrow will determine whether a 50-meter pool is needed. Once the size is determined, the Boosters may either seek private donations or try to float a bond measure.
“We have heard rumors that sometime in the next 24 months, after the success of the recent parcel tax, our school district will float a bond measure to pay for many capital improvements around the district plus at least a 35-meter pool, which means we would only have to fundraise the difference between 35 and 50-meters,” Moss said. “People will have all kinds of questions about priority and amount, so we need students and parents to actively start working now for that bond measure to prove what we need and when and how much.”

School board member John Barton says the district may float a bond next year, although nothing has been planned yet. “Right now it’s going to have to be private fundraising,” Barton said. “If Gunn wants to build a 50-meter pool and if they can raise the funds for it, I’m fine with that.”

Best teams, worst pool

As the adults hashed out the plans for a new pool over the last seven years, the athletes have made some remarkable accomplishments. The boys water polo team, in particular, has qualified for CCS four years in a row, making it all the way to the championship last year.
“We are by far the best team with the worst pool,” Cavagnoll said. “No one ever wants to play here. It has a negative impact on the athletes, too.”

Many athletes have injured themselves on the pool’s rough surfaces. “The pool’s bottom is coming out,” Cantwell said. “Often it gets pretty murky and you can barely see the bottom. Sometimes if we stand on the bottom, people get their feet cut on the bottom.”

The water’s turbidity is due to an inadequate water filtration system, which handles 475 gallons per minute. To keep the pool clear, the system needs to process 778 gallons per minute.

Chuck McDonnell has been maintaing the pool for over the last 10 years and knows of its many shortfalls. “You can’t see the bottom of the deep end,” McDonnell said. “I’m just gonna start closing down the pool every day because it’s just not safe for the kids.”

A Department of Environmental Health inspection on June 8, 2005 stated, “Pool clarity is very poor on a daily basis and pool requires backwashing on a nearly daily basis to maintain barely adequate clarity… Poor pool clarity is a violation of codes and is a safety hazard and will result in pool closure if observed… In order to maintain pool clarity the pool filtration system needs to be redesigned and replaced.”

Despite McDonnell’s work, a homeowner’s filter cannot keep the school pool clear. “The pool man’s always here and I give him props for working on [the water filter], but it’s still really gross,” Eaton said.

After McDonnell met with a district official two weeks ago, the district agreed to add filters to handle the water volume for the current pool. Though these filters will be compatible to both 35 and 50-meter pools, this is just one solution to one of many problems.

“If you don’t put money into anything, it’s not going to last,” McDonnell said. “It’s a pool whose time has come.”