The week before winter break, Ventura was hit and faced an intense storm, with 7.4 inches of rainfall. The Parrish pool, which is used daily by the water polo and swim teams, took most of the heat. The pool drain was knocked out and the water started to drain in an ironic turn of events. And now, weeks past winter break, the pool remains broken, and in worse condition than before.
Athletics Director Derek Rusk explained that the pool being out of commission for the foreseeable future has made things “incredibly difficult”.
“If I was able to [fix it] myself, I would have done it, but unfortunately the district is required to go through the process and this process is long and drawn out… nobodies happy” Rusk said.
Girls Water Polo team captain Senior Isabella Prewitt expressed how the team is disheartened about not having access to their pool. The girls water polo team along with the swim team were forced to change their entire schedules.
“As a senior I barely got to play at my own pool… It was very stressful and I think the team was disappointed” Prewitt said.
Swim’s pre-season was cut short and girls water polo had to practice in the Ventura high school pool at night time, after the Ventura girls water polo team finished their practices. “Unfortunately we have nowhere to go except for [those] late night practices when we could have been home by four” Prewitt said.
When it was discovered that the pool broke on Dec. 21, it had seemed like an easy fix. In the now continuous uphill battle of fixing parrish pool, they were able to fix the pump but the heater needed a replacement. This is not a simple issue, the district needs a company to come in and install the new heaters, which is a lengthy and extensive process.
The cap of the filter had blown off in the middle of the night during the storm that took place. The pool then started to drain, making an incredibly bizarre scene for the people who walked into the pool that morning.
“The pool was ¾ of the way empty,” Rusk said. But it should have been an easy fix nonetheless, except for what happened next. “In [that] process of refilling the pool, the pump went out and the heater went out.”
“The cost of the installation is high enough that it requires that the district to put the job out to bid,” Rusk said, “what that means is that it has to be offered up to different contractors that would be interested in doing the job [then] they have to have it in the paper for a certain amount of weeks, then they give the job to the contractor that comes up with the best bid”
Now in January, we finally have a contractor. “So what we are waiting on,” Rusk said, “is for them to start the work.” Which will take its own time as well. “The facilities department has given me a [functioning pool date] of the second week of march.” said Rusk.
After many weeks, the Buena swimming athletes finally have some hope for the pool being back commission for the swim season.
Amanda Graves, the swim coach said “[Practicing at Ventura] is [making] it a lot harder on athletes and coaching staff to maintain a balance between work and personal responsibilities”. Graves has hope for the pool being functioning again and along with everyone else, is very excited for it to be open and running again in March.
