Due to the current renovations to the De Anza College swimming pools, the swim team has relocated to the Foothill College swimming pool for practices. The team meets in the parking lot between 8:15-8:30a.m. and then proceeds to carpool to Foothill for practices. 

Challenges that the team will face include making sure the athletes know how to arrange their classes to get to practice and back to the De Anza campus on time for their next class. The extra time it takes to arrive at Foothill also cuts off about 25-30 minutes of practice for the swimmers. 

Although the main concern is inconvenience, Coach Jerry Koch is confident that the athletes will be able to handle the current situation well. “The thing it did that may be positive is that everyone has to carpool,” Koch said. “Everyone has to rely on each other to get there, which makes for a better team spirit, so that might be good. We’ll see.”

Even though the pool was just rebuilt about five years ago, according to Koch, some serious mistakes were made during construction. Reinforcement rods stuck out through the concrete, the tiles around the edge of the pool were breaking off the deck, and there was a major leak in the racing pool.

In order to repair the pool, all the tires and plaster are being chipped out and replaced. The bottom of the racing pool will also be dug out while new piping is installed. Construction is estimated to finish by March 9, when the pool will have been refilled, re-plastered, retiled and restarted.