A team often is identified by its home field. The Green Bay Packers have Lambeau Field, while the Red Sox lace up their spikes at Fenway Park. Columnists everywhere throw around the term “home-field advantage” to no end, but ask the Packers, Sox or any other sports team, and they’ll tell you there is definitely something special about gearing up to play in your own friendly confines.
The Boston University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams know that better than most.
Since March 2005, the Terriers have called the BU Aquatics Center in the Fitness and Recreation Center home. According to senior Greg Dierksen, the new pool is quite an upgrade from the swim team’s old home, located under the Case Center.
“There was a dungeon-like atmosphere in that place,” Dierksen said of the pool under the Case Center. “It had low ceilings, was really dark and dingy and really poorly ventilated. It was so hard to breathe because of the humidity, it made your lungs hurt after a while.”
Ever walk into West Campus’ Rich Hall and wonder why BU went through the trouble of building what looks like a 15-foot tall building about 20 feet from the entrance of the dorm?
According to Dierksen, the ceiling at the old pool was so low that in order to field a diving team, BU had to build an extended ceiling over the diving area — hence the 15-foot building outside of Rich. Despite the added space, Dierksen said a lot of visiting divers still feared they might end up smacking their heads on the ceiling.
The new pool at FitRec, however, is easily one of the top two or three pools in New England. The 10-by-16-lane pool has the ability to change from meters to yards by the use of a movable bulkhead. The pool is divided into two sections by this movable dividing wall, one designated for swimmers and the other for divers. The pool features an extra-high ceiling as well, so divers don’t have to be worried about the safety of their heads as they spring off the boards.
The aquatics center seats up to 296 people and has standing room for up to 200 more, making it well equipped to host large meets such as the America East Championships, which took place at FitRec this year and last year. The pool features wide lanes, deep water — ranging anywhere from 7-13.5 feet — and an advanced guttering system, with each helping reduce bounceback. Because of the reduced vibrations in the water, swimmers have noticed their times are significantly lower at BU than at other pools. The pool has also gained a reputation as one of the quickest in New England.
Dierksen admits it is a little challenging to travel to other pools after enjoying the comfort of his home pool. He said that, in particular, schools such as University of Maine and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst remind him of his days swimming at the Case Center. It’s tough for him to swim in the darker, shallower pools, especially because he is used to the bright, open conditions of the pool at FitRec.
BU coach Bill Smyth is in the middle of his third season as the Terriers’ swim coach, and said he could not be happier with the facilities. Smyth, who never coached at the Case Center, is also pleased with the direction of the team. Smyth has boasted a top-notch aquatics center to sell to recruits since his hiring, and just a quick glance at this year’s teams makes it obvious that young talent is starting to gravitate toward BU. When asked about some of this year’s key contributors, Smyth couldn’t stop listing the talented underclassmen who are impressing him this season. It’s only a matter of time before talented high school swimmers know BU as a powerhouse.
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