August 11, 2011 at 10:26 a.m.
No pool, no problem
RHS swimmers utilize Boom Lake while pool area is under renovation
No pool, no problem
By Jonathan Bailey-
But for the Rhinelander High School girls' team, it is one of only a few options to get ready for the upcoming season, as its pool is currently undergoing renovations and is not expected to be ready until mid- to late-September.
"It gives us an opportunity to do something different," RHS swim head coach Amber Laggis said on the unique situation. "It's definitely going to be a memorable season."
Tuesday marked the earliest day that Laggis could hold swimming practice and the Hodags spent their morning at Hodag Park.
While not a ton of time was spent in Boom Lake on the first day, as the team ran laps around the park and went through important informational items, they will be spending plenty of time there over the next several weeks.
Laggis said that the exercises that will be done in Boom Lake vary greatly from what they would be doing in the swimming pool, but that's not all bad.
"We're not going to be swimming laps like at the high school. It's definitely going to be different but we're still going to do some swimming.
"We're going to be treading water, kicking and doing lots of water-related exercises that will benefit the girls when they're in a pool and start swimming ... I think combining that with swimming at the Y and some dryland stuff that we're doing, I think we have an opportunity to make the team a lot stronger," she added.
Laggis had her doubts on whether the lack of a facility at the beginning of the season would hinder numbers, but was relieved to see 15 swimmers show up for the first day of practice.
She scheduled all of the practices for the month of August in Rhinelander, whether at Hodag Park or the YMCA, to make it easier for swimmers to make that commitment to the program.
When all is said and done, Laggis is optimistic that this experience will help the team grow as one and build better chemistry.
"As a team, we're all going through this together," she said. "These are all challenges that we have to work through. That can make our sense of team a lot stronger for sure. It's just going to be a totally different experience. It's a negative that we don't have our pool, but at least we have a place to go."
Construction on the swimming pool area is ahead of schedule, but still not slated to be completed until mid-September. RHS activities director Charlie LaHam said the pool may have been ready even earlier, but they had to custom-order the lights.
The progress on the renovations gives the team a renewed sense of hope that it will be able to host home meets this season. Its schedule was originally comprised of all away meets, but LaHam has been in contact with the Great Northern Conference to work out an alternative plan if the lights arrive when expected.
The renovations, which include a new HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system, are a part of the referendum that passed in February of 2010 and the Hodag Facilities Foundation's capital campaign. The foundation is funding a new scoreboard for the swimming pool among other improvements.
"The (swimming pool) was built in 1957. There's going to be things that happen over that time," LaHam said.
While it may come at the cost of missed practices and fewer home meets this season, Laggis is excited for the upgrade and the fact that as of now it is ahead of schedule.
"It's really exciting," she said. "They're going to be the first group of girls to swim at that pool and have that experience. It's kind of a bummer that the seniors are going to catch just a little bit of it, but for the other girls, that's a great thing.
"Do we have some challenges because we don't have our pool open right now? Yes. But it's going to be well worth it, I think in the end, when we have a really nice looking facility. I'm hoping that having that done and the way the pool and locker rooms are going to be, that's going to encourage more girls to join the team in future years," she added.
A complete season preview on the RHS girls' swim team will be published in the Aug. 27 edition of The Northwoods River News. Its first meet is Sept. 1 at Wausau West.
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