In early January, the long-awaited Ted and Rand Schaal Aquatics Center opened in its full Olympic-size glory.
The facility features a 65-meter by 25-yard pool, multiple diving springboards, locker rooms, office space and enough room for multiple teams to practice simultaneously.
The center will be used for all six UC Davis aquatic Intercollegiate Athletic teams, the university's intramural sport clubs, and two local community teams -- Davis Aquatic Masters and the Aquadarts.
As a pool designed for competitive team use, it will not be open to individual faculty, staff or members of the public.
However, by moving the intercollegiate athletic teams into the Schaal Aquatics Center, the Hickey Pool will now be able to expand for its current users. Physical Education classes will have the additional space to offer a wider variety of classes and Campus Recreation will offer lap swimming -- for the first time -- to students and university affiliates.
Meanwhile, intramural sport clubs will use the new aquatics center to expand their inner-tube water polo program beginning this spring. The community teams will also have access to the new facility while other user-groups will be able to rent the facility to host special competitive meets and events.
The Ted and Rand Schaal Aquatics Center also has a warming pool, team room and spectator seating. The pool's shallowest depth is 7 feet, with the deep end 13 feet.
A dash to splash
The athletic teams started practicing in the new center on Jan. 7, said Janna Woltil, aquatic director. Some swimmers first got their toes in the water even as far back as Dec. 12. Now, the entire facility, from the locker rooms to the seating sections, is being used.
The aquatic center is located on East Health Science Drive, across from the Vet Med complex.
"We focused on making the pool a premiere swimming, diving and water polo training facility," Woltil said. "That's exactly what we wanted and what we lacked at Hickey Pool."
The concept of building an Olympic size competitive pool originated with a $1 million donation to UC Davis from Rand Schaal, a former UC Davis student and geology instructor, and his father, Ted Schaal.
Rand swam on the UC Davis men's swim team and now swims with the local masters team, Davis Aquatic Masters. The remaining $6 million in project costs is funded by the Facilities and Campus Enhancement (FACE) initiative, passed by students in 1999 to fund the new Activities and Recreation Center and multiuse stadium in addition to the Aquatics Center.
An official opening ceremony is planned for Sunday, April 18, the day after Picnic Day. The Schaals are expected to be on hand for the event, Woltil said.
The facility was slated to open in October, but steam and heating issues caused delays, Woltil said.
The malfunction of a heat exchange system was a problem as were some fire code exit lighting issues. The facility will likely be tested and commissioned by mid- to late-February. Other construction work is to be completed over spring break in late March, which will not interrup team practice, she added.
Karla Helder, head diving coach for both men's and women's teams, said, "It's nice to be in a place that's totally functional. It's so far above what we had to deal with in Hickey Gym."
She explained that the Hickey Pool was unusually shallow and not in compliance with depth requirements for intercollegiate diving.
"Both of the Schaals are to be highly commended for their foresight in supporting this kind of facility," Helder said.