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How is the Robson/Lindley complex progressing ? Any photos ? Also, is this building/pool too close to the metro tracks ?............surf's up

smustatesman wrote:How is the Robson/Lindley complex progressing ? Any photos ? Also, is this building/pool too close to the metro tracks ?............surf's up

Women's swim coach Steve Collins advised that he is posting construction photos on his Facebook page every week. I failed to get further details.

PoconoPony wrote:

smustatesman wrote:How is the Robson/Lindley complex progressing ? Any photos ? Also, is this building/pool too close to the metro tracks ?............surf's up

Women's swim coach Steve Collins advised that he is posting construction photos on his Facebook page every week. I failed to get further details.

Grabbed the latest photos:

How long is the pool going to be? For some reason, I had it in my head that we would have a 50M pool and a separate diving pool. Looking at that picture, it looks like the diving pool is going to be part of the "swimming pool."

Question: For speed purposes, does the configuration (two pools or 1 big pool with a bulkhead) of the pool matter? I remember my HS friend (who was a recruited athlete) wanted to go to a place with a "fast" pool.

I thought I read that the pool would be 25. (And isn't it yards, not meters?)

Yes, the configuration is supposed to matter, making some pools "faster" than others (I had to ask a friend who swam at SMU.) What makes one faster than another, I have no clue. Sorry.

isn't shallower for longer faster? which is why they don't like to have the diving in the same pool?

The pool will by 50 meters long and 25 years wide.
There will not be a separate diving pool, but the diving will be at one end of the main pool - obviously where the deeper water will be.
The deeper the water, the faster the pool - if everything else is equal.
The pool will be good enough to hold conference championships, but not national championship events.
The biggest thing it will do is enable the coaches to recruit more effectively to a much better training situation.

ponyswim wrote:
The pool will be good enough to hold conference championships, but not national championship events.
The biggest thing it will do is enable the coaches to recruit more effectively to a much better training situation.

Ponyswim, can you elaborate on this? Will these facilities be Top 10, Top 20?

What are your expectations for our program going forward.

SoCal_Pony wrote:

ponyswim wrote:
The pool will be good enough to hold conference championships, but not national championship events.
The biggest thing it will do is enable the coaches to recruit more effectively to a much better training situation.

Ponyswim, can you elaborate on this? Will these facilities be Top 10, Top 20?

What are your expectations for our program going forward.

This desperately needed long course (50m by 25yd) facility will help with training, recruiting and competition, including Conference Championship events. However, the design is a compromise with no separate diving well. This was a result of funding and size of the site. This limitation would means we will not be Top 20 facility.

Water Pony wrote:

SoCal_Pony wrote:

ponyswim wrote:
The pool will be good enough to hold conference championships, but not national championship events.
The biggest thing it will do is enable the coaches to recruit more effectively to a much better training situation.

Ponyswim, can you elaborate on this? Will these facilities be Top 10, Top 20?

What are your expectations for our program going forward.

This desperately needed long course (50m by 25yd) facility will help with training, recruiting and competition, including Conference Championship events. However, the design is a compromise with no separate diving well. This was a result of funding and size of the site. This limitation would means we will not be Top 20 facility.

Question: would it be wise to focus on rebuilding the swim team vs allocating resources to diving? With so many pools removing diving boards for liability reasons, is diving likely to remain a viable college sport in the next xxx years?

I think diving will be around for a long time. Diving boards disappear from many neighborhood/club pools for liability reasons, but diving is not particularly a dangerous sport compared to many others.

As far as top 20, etc. facility, I have been at 90% of the top 20 teams facilities, and I would say it would be in the top 15-25 depending on how you look at it. What really would help our facility would be if the project is soon completed with the 50 meter by 25 yard Outdoor pool next to it. Then may you can say it would be a top 10. Not necessarily to host an NCAA Championship, but the value of having that much space to train, and having the outdoor facility in addition. Off the top of my head these Big 12 are better - A&M, UT, Missou. SEC - Florida, Auburn, GA.
ACC - not sure any are - but I have not seen all the newest ones. Big Ten - Ohio State/Purdue are better. Pac 10 - most are outside so it is a little different - AZ, USC, Cal, Stanford are all really good.

Our coaches need to find a way to get elite recruits to get us back into the elite status. We will see it they can do that. A whole lot of great current programs really struggled till they got a new facility - Georgia and A&M to name a couple.

The limitations of a separate warm up facility limit our pool from national events. Also, the seating capacity is far too small. Our facility is alright for short course ( 25 yard ) NCAA or high school events as you can warm up in the unused end of the pool behind the bulk head.

Our problem is that a world class facility should have been built commensurate with the PE facility; however, the BS and politics of the PE department killed the perfect setting and place for a great facility.

ponyswim wrote:I think diving will be around for a long time. Diving boards disappear from many neighborhood/club pools for liability reasons, but diving is not particularly a dangerous sport compared to many others.

As far as top 20, etc. facility, I have been at 90% of the top 20 teams facilities, and I would say it would be in the top 15-25 depending on how you look at it. What really would help our facility would be if the project is soon completed with the 50 meter by 25 yard Outdoor pool next to it. Then may you can say it would be a top 10. Not necessarily to host an NCAA Championship, but the value of having that much space to train, and having the outdoor facility in addition. Off the top of my head these Big 12 are better - A&M, UT, Missou. SEC - Florida, Auburn, GA.
ACC - not sure any are - but I have not seen all the newest ones. Big Ten - Ohio State/Purdue are better. Pac 10 - most are outside so it is a little different - AZ, USC, Cal, Stanford are all really good.

Our coaches need to find a way to get elite recruits to get us back into the elite status. We will see it they can do that. A whole lot of great current programs really struggled till they got a new facility - Georgia and A&M to name a couple.

FYI, Missou and A&M have been in the SEC for years now