Prospect's Natatorium is ready for aquatic business
Before even the first official practice could be held, aquatically oriented folks from throughout Dist. 214 gathered in Mt. Prospect on Monday night to celebrate a big victory.
The occasion was grand - the dedication ceremony for the Prospect Natatorium.
After dignitaries from Prospect and the district recognized the key players responsible for the pool, a mass ribbon-cutting ushered in a new era in aquatics in the Mid-Suburban East.
The sparkling new facility will house Prospect and Hersey in both swimming and water polo, starting with this fall's girls swimming and diving season.
Before now, both schools had always been commuter programs, with Prospect most recently sharing the pool at Wheeling, and Hersey getting time at Olympic Pool in Arlington Heights. Programs at both schools have regularly been among the best in the Mid-Suburban East in recent seasons.
For both the Knights and the Huskies, the new waters are a big upgrade over even their recent histories.
With eight lanes available, there's much more room for practices, along with ample deck space and a bright scoreboard. Windows on the east-facing side on the structure allow an abundance of natural light, and climate controls will allow for stands that are actually cooler (parents, rejoice!) than the pool deck.
Plenty of deep water at one end allows for diving and swimming to be practiced concurrently, and also will allow the water polo teams to train and compete in the preferred all-deep water.
The moment was especially sweet for Prospect boys and girls swimming coach Alfonso Lopez, who once competed for the Knights. He's looking forward to the opportunities the new pool will provide.
"I think it's a game-changer for both of our schools," Lopez said. "It's a big step forward. The question now is, 'What's the best way to teach our kids and really take full advantage of what we have?' "
Like Lopez, Hersey's Dick Mortensen coaches both boys and girls swimming. In addition, he's the head coach for Huskies boys water polo, and he can semi-fondly recall some of the challenges of getting started in that sport when it was gearing up at Prospect.
One of the hurdles was creating water polo goals from scratch. Mortensen's wife Shayna supervised that PVC piping project, which had a distinctly do-it-yourself feel and required persistence.
"It broke on the first shot, by Joe Kelley," Dick Mortensen recalled.
Those start-up issues look to be long gone now. Surely there will also be some bugs to iron out at Prospect's Natatorium, but aquatics is steadily becoming a strength in Dist. 214.
"This place, it's state of the art," said Mortensen. "And now, with this pool and Buffalo Grove, we have two pools in the district that could host a sectional meet."
Prospect started its boys swimming team in the 1961-62 school year under coach Don Barrett, with practices held at Lattof YMCA. The current versions of Prospect's aquatics teams honored the school's legacy by taking an enthusiastic plunge as multiple generations of Knights fans watched from the stands.
The first day of girls swimming and diving practice is Wednesday; Hersey gets to hold the first competition in the new pool, with an Aug. 23 nonconference dual scheduled against Warren.
Mortensen is already looking forward to sharing Prospect Natatorium space with Lopez's teams. The district has had several of those arrangements in the past, such as Rolling Meadows and Elk Grove splitting the time at Elk Grove's pool in recent seasons.
"I've really liked it when the teams I've had have been in that situation," Mortensen said. "In each case, I really felt like the kids benefited from it."