Next season, the Penn swim team will be relocated to alternative practice sites as their home facility, Sheerr Pool, is set to close in July for renovations that will take the entire 2024-25 academic year to complete.
The plan to renovate was announced in July 2023. This month, Penn provided an update on the project, including the plan to close the pool on July 1, 2024.
The plans for the renovation are still being finalized but will include a new bulkhead, diving board, starting blocks, pool tile, and gutter system. In addition, Penn is planning to upgrade the filtration and pool mechanical equipment, ventilation, and bleacher seating and make accessibility improvements.
“These renovations are necessary to keep the pool facility up to date and in working order,” Penn wrote in their April bulletin. Director of Campus Recreation Shelbi Long told the Daily Pennsylvanian she does not forsee the renovation taking longer than the planned June 2025 completion date.
While Sheerr Pool is closed, Penn swimmers will practice at Drexel University and the West Philadelphia YMCA. The Penn and Drexel campuses are adjacent, and Drexel’s pool is approximately a 15 minute walk from the Penn pool and the YMCA is about 30 minutes. Non-varsity swimmers will also be able to use Drexel’s facilities during the year at the reduced affiliate rate.
The timing of the project allows any Penn swimmers qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials to complete preparations for the event at their home pool.
This includes Matt Fallon, who earned bronze in the 200 breast at the 2023 World Championships. Fallon, the 6th fastest 200 breastroker in American history, is one of the favorites to make the Olympic team in that event. Fallon trained at UGA for the past two summers but confirmed to the Daily Pennsylvanian that he plans to train at Penn leading up to Trials.
Penn was the only mid-major program to have swimmers from both their women’s and men’s teams score at the 2024 NCAA championships. At the 2024 Ivy League Championships, the men finished 4th and the women took 5th.
Cleveland State got lucky with COVID (weird thing to type) because they were able to do all their pool renovations during the shutdowns. CT Branin Natatorium in Canton (where the OHSAA State Meet is) was the same way. Pools occasionally need to be fixed and it sucks because swimming is basically a year-round sport so there never is a good time to do it. Also, the fixes are typically not simple and are typically very invasive to the pool deck and pool area. Draining the pool is also a time-consuming process, as is filling the pool when you are done. It is nice that Penn is delaying it so that the swimmers who are going to Trials don’t have to… Read more »
I’ve swum in the West Philly YMCA… low ceilings and shallow pool. No parking so hope the school is shuttling them to and from the pool.
Or one stop on the MFL…
such a horrible pool typical ivy league lol
Uh. Harvard, Princeton and Brown have very nice facilities.
Cornell, Columbia, Penn, Dartmouth, Yale. I wouldn’t say the ivy league are know for their nice facilities.
Princeton and Brown have very nice facilities. Harvard technically has enough deck space to host an invitational.
Harvard is mid but Princeton and Brown are really nice and underrated I’d say
I qualified for nationals in that pool in 1969. I’d say it’s time for an upgrade.