For the better part of eight years, the Southern Lehigh swim team has been practicing five days a week, for two and a half hours a day, at the Rodale Aquatic Center at Cedar Crest College. The swimmers have been proud to say they have been one of the most successful teams in the State of Pennsylvania, despite the fact that Southern Lehigh doesn’t have a pool of its own. Next year, however, the swimmers are in peril of not having any pool at all.
There are a number of possible solutions to this issue at the moment, but as of now, the swim program at Southern Lehigh is stuck in limbo.
“I definitely think we will still have a team next year,” junior Rhyan Rodriguez said. “We should be able to find another pool.”
One option being explored is finding a new pool to practice in; another option is that the school could potentially build a pool of its own. The team would find either solution acceptable at this point.
“I think we will find another pool to practice in,” freshman Niko Kreider said. “We won’t lose the team.”
In addition to finding a venue, another main problem that needs to be overcome is finding an ideal time frame for the team to practice. While swimming at Rodale, the team leaves right from school, and swims from three to five p.m. every weekday afternoon.
If the team is forced to share a pool with another team, such as Saucon Valley or Liberty, where the team currently holds extra practice on some weekends, uses as venues during home meets, Southern Lehigh would be at the mercy of the practice time of the other teams. This poses the issue of practicing from five p.m. to seven or eight p.m., potentially getting in the way of academics.
“I’m graduating this year, so I don’t have to worry about this issue,” senior boys’ co-captain Couper Godleski said, “but still, there is a very strong camaraderie on this entire team, kind of like a family. I’d hate to lose my second family.”
It is a very tricky situation, but the members of the swim program hope to thrive as they move into the future.
