The grand opening of the O’Pake Fitness & Recreation Center commenced the start of a new chapter of the SJU Club Swimming team, situating their home pool back on campus Aug. 29.
When O’Pake’s renovations began in January 2023, the SJU Club Swimming team moved its practices to the Maguire Pool in Hagan Arena. By the end of the spring 2023 semester, the Maguire Pool was set to permanently close as well, leaving the team with no on-campus pool to call home.
For the 2023-2024 academic year, the team had to travel to Friends’ Central School, a five-minute car ride from St. Joe’s campus, to practice the sport they loved. While only a short trip, the player’s commute provided logistical challenges that not only impacted their ability to practice but also the bonds formed between teammates.
“We’re just really happy to be back on campus,” said Taylor Stech ’25, president of SJU Club Swimming. “It’s been quite a journey, but we’re really happy and thankful for all we’ve been through.”
Stech has been a member of the team since the fall 2021 semester and became president of the club last fall. Over the past year, Stech and her teammates have had to address challenges head-on, with the biggest being transportation.
“We had a lot of first-year students last year, so we were limited in the number of people that could drive,” Stech said. “If we didn’t have somebody to drive, we might have had to cancel practice.”
The new pool doesn’t just benefit the club swimming team. Available to all members of the St. Joe’s community, the pool opens up a new avenue of exercise with a myriad of benefits.
“One of the main benefits of swimming is the ability to train the cardiovascular system and muscular system without impact,” wrote Eric Laudano, Ph.D., senior associate athletics director for high performance and campus recreation, in response to written questions from The Hawk. “This is beneficial from both a training perspective and/or a recovery perspective.”
Swimming can help strengthen various systems in a person’s body, including the muscular and cardiovascular systems, without the stress on joints that often accompanies high-impact activities, Laudano wrote. Running, for example, is a popular cardiovascular activity, but it can place stress on the runner’s body, especially the joints.
“I used to run a lot,” said Thomas Brennan, S.J., associate professor of English and avid swimmer. “But because of my back and my knees, I haven’t been able to do that for almost 20 years. So swimming became the replacement for that.”
Aside from the health benefits of swimming for non-athletes, Stech believes on-campus accessibility to a pool will prove to be beneficial for their upcoming season both in and out of the water.
“I think our biggest hopes are to create a greater sense of a team and a community,” Stech said. “I think that being able to be on campus will eliminate a lot of the challenges that we faced last year.”
She believes this chemistry resulting from the new pool will help propel them to achieve their goals.
“We registered for the College Club Swimming league this year for the first time since before covid,” Stech said. “[We’re] trying to get back to competing in more meets and expand where we’re going, with the ultimate goal to send some swimmers to nationals this year.”
For the SJU Club Swimming team, the new pool is not just a practice facility but a beacon of opportunity, shining light into the future.
“The new pool being open really means a lot for the future of our club,” Stech said.
