Kendall Pantano/The Mossy Log
For almost two years now, I have faced the same on-going, near impossible quest: attempting to make it to Zehntbauer lap swim hours. It has become one of my most daring weekly endeavors as a full-time Lewis & Clark student and part-time aquatics enjoyer.
My freshman year was marked (much to my roommate’s dismay) with the blaring of my 7:45 a.m. alarm to make it to 8-9 a.m. weekday lap swim hours. When I took an 8 a.m. class the next semester, my eyes would glaze over the blue light of my Google Calendar, calculating how to possibly fit 30 minutes worth of lap swim between my afternoon classes and my lunch break during their weekday early afternoon hours and the mid-afternoon weekend time slots.
Last semester, I fell into a deep despair: all weekend hours along with weekday mornings were cut, leaving only a meager hour and a half of community swim time during weekday afternoons. My busy afternoon course schedule made it impossible for me to make it to the pool to swim during the reduced hours, and I was devastated.
I know I am not the only one who had trouble treading these new hours. Like me, most students during this time of day are rushing back and forth between classes or to Fowler to grab a quick bite and a hasty (and much regretted) return to the academic buildings. This leaves little time for the average recreational student swimmer to use Zehntbauer, which is supposedly a free, accessible resource for the entire LC community. Somehow, the athletics department had managed to schedule community swim hours almost exclusively during the least convenient time slot for the majority of students.
Things became even more dire this semester. When I returned in January with a dampened, yet hopeful spirit, I was met with disappointment yet again! Although the Facilities Hours page on the LC Athletics Department website promised lap swim would return on Jan. 20, the pool remained closed the entirety of this semester. Although plans to implement the final stages of the pool’s three-year renovation plan were later announced and officially began on April 6, the athletics department’s initial lack of clear communication regarding this development vexed both myself and my fellow would-be recreational student swimmers.
We were given little information about the logistical renovation plans, making it nearly impossible for recreational student swimmers to find information regarding Zehntbauer’s renovation schedule until this March. While I understand the necessity of closing the pool for these repairs, I believe the lack of explanation we were initially given regarding the renovation process demonstrates a larger problem students have been facing when trying to access Pamplin facilities: a general lack of concern regarding students’ time and needs. Pool hours were significantly reduced last semester with little explanation. This semester, they became nonexistent, following the same trend. I am sure there were reasonable concerns regarding the limited pool hours in the fall, but if there were, students were not made aware of them.
Like other Pamplin facilities, such as the weight room, training room, the pool is an important facet for students attempting to stay active and healthy. We all exercise in different ways that suit our various needs and preferences, and when the school has access to such a grand, 8-lane 25-yard pool such as Zehntbauer, that is intended for communal recreational access just as much as it is for official sports events, they should be doing whatever is in their power to either make this resource accessible or provide sufficient explanation as to why and for how long Zehntbauer is to be closed.
I hope I do not read as self-indulgent or entitled here — that is not my goal. I do not complain about the lack of hours solely in my own interest, but to demonstrate that by discontinuing public hours to gym resources, we are furthering the divide between the larger student body and the athletics program.
Zehntbauer, like the rest of Pamplin — while utilized primarily by sports teams — is a public resource to LC students, faculty and staff. Like any community resource, admin and staff should work to maintain public access to this facility. If the athletics department is willing to advertise Zehntbauer as a community resource on the school website, they should stay true to their word. Too many times within the last few years, our school has greatly exaggerated the resources they provide to make LC accommodating and accessible towards students, from academic accommodations to spiritual life. By providing quite limited to no community lap swim hours, the school is thus reconfirming something so many of us already feel: that the administration cares more about their appearance than it does about actually providing resources for its students.
Renovations began April 6, with no current scheduled timeline for completion. Hopefully we can get hours that are actually accessible to the campus community when the pool is done, ideally bringing back morning swim and weekend time slots.
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