Groundbreaking announcement
SMU hopes to open Barr-McMillion Natatorium in 2017
Posted on 02/27/2016 by PonyFans.com
The 42,000-square-foot Barr-McMillion Natatorium is expected to open in 2017 (photo by SMU).
An announcement that has been expected for close to two years, and desired for decades, was finally made Friday when SMU officially broke ground on the 42,000-square-foot Robson Lindley Aquatics Center, named for lead donors Bruce and Emily Robson and The Lindley Family, and Barr-McMillion Natatorium, named after legendary former SMU swimming coaches A.R. “Red” Barr and George “Coach Mac” McMillion.

“What an awesome day,” men’s head coach Eddie Sinnott said. “When they named it the Barr-McMillion Natatorium, or as Bruce Robson said, just ‘The Nat,’ that was great. It was a great way to blend the great history of SMU’s swimming history with state-of-the-art technology that will give us one of the finest facilities in the nation.”

“This is something we have always dreamed of, since I first started coaching here,” SMU women’s swimming head coach Steve Collins said. “So to see the dream realized is just fantastic.”

The event, which included remarks by SMU vice president for development and external affairs Brad Cheves, president R. Gerald Turner, Bruce Robson, board of trustees chairman Michael M. Boone and athletic director Rick Hart, was held in a tent that was erected at the future site of the facility, just east of Expressway Tower on SMU Boulevard between Central Expressway and Greenville Ave.

"SMU swimmers and divers have a legendary record of success, both in the pool and in the classroom," Turner said. "The facilities at the Aquatics Center will help student-athletes continue the Mustang swimming legacy, and enable fans to enjoy the highest levels of competition at a premier venue. Today's groundbreaking demonstrates SMU's commitment to supporting students in their quests for excellence."

The new facility will include much of what was lacking at Perkins, which was condemned two years ago, forcing the Mustangs to train for the past two seasons in the outdoor “Red” Barr outdoor pool, shielded from inclement weather only by a tent — conditions that make even more impressive the fact that the SMU women’s team repeated as American Athletic Conference champions and the men’s team finished second.

Redshirt sophomore Bryce Klein said the new Barr-McMillion Natatorium could be "the final piece" that helps sway some recruits to choose SMU (photo by SMU athletics).
Perkins, which originally was built as a basketball facility, contained six swimming lanes — Barr-McMillion will have eight, as well as a diving well with a platform tower and separate water systems that will allow the temperature in each to be controlled separately. Perkins contained cramped office space Sinnott shared with women’s swimming coach Steve Collins and diving coach Jim Stillson and the staff’s assistants — in the new facility, each will have a separate office overlooking the pool. It also will have its own training room, locker rooms, a classroom setting and seating for roughly 800 spectators.

Sinnott said that he, Collins and Stillson were not involved in the actual design of the new building, but said they were consulted frequently for their ideas about what the building should and should not include.

“The thing about this new building is that we wanted to make sure that if we do it, we’re going to do it right,” Sinnott said. “We’re going to have quality starting blocks. We’re going to have quality lane markers. We’re going to have a quality air system. The (diving) tower, the (touch) boards, the audio system — everything is going to be of the highest quality.

“If you look at what they did with Moody Coliseum, or the tennis stadium, that’s a theme. SMU is about quality. This has been a long time coming, and now, here it is. Let’s rejoice. We have the opportunity to show 17- and 18-year-olds that we have one of the elite private, liberal arts universities in the country, we have a beautiful campus and we’re in one of the greatest cities in the country. There’s a lot to celebrate.”

During his remarks, Hart said that McMillion, who was in attendance at the event, has been a regular visitor around Hart’s office in the Loyd All-Sports Center … and that McMillion “was nice enough to remind (Hart)” about the need for a new aquatics center.

The effects of the new facility on the Mustangs’ swimming and diving programs will be numerous, but the most significant impacts will be in the quality of student-athletes SMU is able to attract and the effectiveness with which they can train.

“I think once again, starting today, we’re going to be able to start again recruiting the top swimmers from around the country and start to get the interest,” Collins said. “We’ve got one of the finest schools in the nation, we’ve got a desirable location, and we have a great swimming tradition, so we feel that this facility is finally going to put us on equal footing where we can vie for some of the top prospects around the U.S.”

Krista Wilson Klein was an eight-time All-America diver between 1988 and 1991. Her husband, Jeff Klein, was a Mustang swimmer during the same era. While members of the SMU teams, she said they already had heard speculation that a new facility was on the way.

“It’s almost unbelievable that it’s finally going to happen,” she said. “When I was back in school, there was talk of a new natatorium. It got to the point that we heard about it for so long that we thought that maybe it wasn’t ever going to happen, so now that it’s coming to be, I’m beyond elated. I’m so excited for these kids.”

Two of those “kids” are her own sons: Bryce is a redshirt sophomore who was named the Outstanding Diver of the Meet at the recent American Athletic Conference Championship, while Carson is a freshman freestyler.

“When they decided on SMU, obviously it wasn’t because the facility was so great,” Krista Klein said. “They came here because the school is fantastic, the coaches are fantastic, and the facility was something they just had to deal with. But now, that’s not going to be an issue — they’re going to have a state-of-the-art facility to look forward to. I’m probably going to come over here every day to watch it get built, because it’s that exciting, and you have a great school, great coaches, and now you’re going to have a great facility. There’s not going to be any stopping SMU after it’s built.”

For his part, Bryce Klein acknowledged that his parents loyalty to SMU and the program made the school a likely destination for him from a young age, but said that Friday’s announcement marked a satisfying resolution to the rumors he — just like his parents when they were in school — had heard.

“I’ve been around the swimming and diving program here forever,” Bryce Klein said. “The new pool has always been something everyone has been excited about, it’s always been rumored that it’s coming, and it’s nice to see all of those rumors turn into this kind of an event, with all these people coming back, all these gracious donors. All the former swimmers and divers coming back to celebrate this, it’s kind of the culmination of all of those years of saying ‘here it comes.’ It’s here. To have it actually be here, it’s very special for me, and I can imagine it’s equally specially for everybody on the team and everybody who was on the team before us.”

Friday’s gathering was a “Who’s Who” of SMU swimming and diving. In addition to the Kleins, the luminaries in attendance included Olympians Steve Lundquist, Ryan Berube and Martina Moravcova.

All-America and Olympic swimmer Martina Moravcova said the construction of a new facility was a necessity for the SMU swimming and diving programs (photo by SMU athletics).
The 1999 NCAA Swimmer of the Year and a 25-time All-America honoree during her years on the Hilltop, Moravcova admitted that like many others, there were times she wondered when the talk of a new natatorium would become reality.

“Well, I was always hopeful,” Moravcova said. “They have been talking about this for the longest time, but once they pulled down the old facility, this became a necessity.”

Hart said the new facility will allow the school to pay tribute to the great athletes and teams in years past while attracting and preparing future athletes to return the Mustangs to among the nation’s elite programs.

"SMU swimmers and coaches achieved great success in Perkins Natatorium, but they have long dreamed of a new aquatics center," Hart said. "The promise of these superb new facilities will strengthen the future of the swimming and diving program and honor the legacy of the student-athletes and coaches who created the SMU swimming powerhouse."

But before the programs can climb back up the national rankings, the coaches — with some help from the new aquatics center — will have to attract more top recruits to Dallas. Bryce Klein said that while the won’t be the only factor for recruits who are choosing a college team, adding a state-of-the-art venue could end up being the deciding factor for some student-athletes who are torn between multiple schools.

“For me, looking at SMU, imagining that I was just a recruit coming in, it’s really hard to get any better than the education you’re able to get here, and it’s hard to pick a better team, a better coaching staff, a better family,” he said. “So the pool isn’t everything, and that’s shown by the fact that we have so many very talented athletes now who have done some really great things within our conference and within the country. But when you add that final piece, when you make that final piece of the puzzle, then it makes a huge difference. It’s hard to imagine, because of all the great things that are happening now, but there’s no doubt in my mind that it’s going to take off as soon as we have a world-class facility here. As soon as the walls are up, I’m going to be the happiest man alive.”

If the final construction will invigorate Klein, Sinnott said that Friday’s ceremony has sparked a new enthusiasm among the coaching staff.

“It’s going to be way more exciting to come to work,” Sinnott said. “I want to coach in that new building. We all want to train our teams in that beautiful new facility before we turn our keys over to other coaches.

“Every day is a great day to be an SMU Mustang. But today … today was really something special.”

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