FMC Natatorium hoping to become new home of IHSA swimming finals

Mary Ann Kaufman has labeled herself a 'swim mom' for more than 20 years.

"Swimming and the swim community so positively impacted our family that I want everyone to have access to the sport," she said.

Kaufman was hardly kidding.

In less than a few months, she hopes to open a state-of-the-art swimming pool in Westmont, called the FMC Natatorium.

Appropriately enough, FMC stands for 'For My Community.'

"It began as kind of a joke that we should build a pool and then, as often happens, the joke turned into a real idea," said Kaufman, the FMC founder whose three daughters were also swimmers. "FMC Natatorium started out as a sketch on a napkin and just grew."

Located adjacent to the existing Ty Warner Park in Westmont, the FMC Natatorium is expected to serve a glaring need in Illinois aquatics, where facilities have not kept up with those in neighboring states.

This has forced Illinois residents to regularly hold championship club meets in Wisconsin and Indiana.

Now Kaufman is hoping to land them in Westmont.

"It troubled me to see that swim families needed to drive to Indiana and Wisconsin for big meets," she said. "The idea of all those Illinois dollars going to other states seemed wasteful to me. And, foolish for a state with such a strong history of champion swimmers."

Kaufman and her Director of Facility, Programs & Events Dave Krotiak, one of the best-known club coaches in Illinois, would love to see championship high school swimming in their grand facility.

FMC Natatorium is among the bidders to hold the boys and girls high school state finals over the next three school years. The IHSA was accepting bids in March but so far has not announced a decision.

For about the last 30 years, the high school state finals have alternated between Evanston and New Trier high schools.

While those schools feature classic old pools, both have shallow water at one end (not good for fast swims) and very limited warm-up and warm-down capability.

"We talked to them after the boys state meet this year and Kraig (Harber, IHSA assistant executive secretary) came out and saw the facility," Krotiak said. "He loved it. A lot of ideas came out of his visit. It's a wonderful facility to run their meet. It opens up possibilities for a great tradition. It's easy to manage and has all the bells and whistles to accommodate their event."

In addition to plenty of parking (330 spots on the lot, 220 directly across the street and another 100 plus on the street) and fan amenities, the facility will be able to have two 25-yard pools running at the same time.

At the same site there will be another 25-yard pool with shallower water for warm-ups and cool-downs while meets are in session.

Myrtha Pools USA is the manufacturer of the actual FMC swimming pool (the vessel that holds the water). The company produced the pools for the U.S. Olympic Trials, for the FINA World Championships and frequently for the Olympics.

FMC will also feature state-of-the-art starting blocks and timing systems.

"As a result, we are synonymous with the idea of fast swimming, and that has swimmers in Illinois excited about the heritage of the pool they will be getting," said Myrtha Midwest sales manager Aaron Gabriel, the former high school sports editor for the Daily Herald and a state champion swimmer at St. Charles, as well as a Big Ten champion swimmer at Wisconsin.

"To have a facility like what FMC is constructing right in our own backyard is beyond exciting," said Monika Chiappetta, boys and girls head coach at Rolling Meadows High School and the owner of Reach Aquatics, a club which runs most of its practices at Conant High School's pool. "I am so happy that the athletes in Illinois will have this pool to compete in."

Another major key is that the facility will have seating around three sides of the pool, plus a giant scoreboard at the starting end. All of which makes it a great place to hold national-level meets - something Illinois has never been able to do.

As for the IHSA meet, Krotiak said he doesn't expect a decision until June.

"We're targeting to have it ready for the IHSA girls meet this fall and boys meet in 2021," said Krotiak. "I think if not for the (COVID-19 pandemic), their (IHSA) decision probably would have been rolled out in April. But what has been expressed to me now is that they need to make it by the first week of June or so. So we're still working through this but I think everybody has what's best in mind."

And Kaufman's whole thought process was having what's best for Illinois swimming.

"I was a parent volunteer on a newly formed swim team, and we constantly faced the issue of finding a suitable swim facility for our team's practices," Kaufman said. "The most important factor driving me is safety. The number of children that drown every year is unacceptable. Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional death of children 14 and under. For every child who dies from drowning, another five receive emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries. This is easily preventable with early access to water safety. Children and adults should have access to swimming. Period."