SRJC Aquatics Center
Santa Rosa Junior College has recently broken ground on a new Olympic-sized 52-meter swimming pool, thanks to funds generated by voter approval of the Measure H bond measure in 2016. The highly-anticipated project is set to open in fall 2023.
Since 1973, the SRJC swim and dive team has given student-athletes an opportunity to improve their skills and find success both in and out of the pool. SRJC Aquatics will celebrate its 50th Anniversary in 2023. The program is the most decorated Athletic program in SRJC history, claiming eight (8) of the school’s twenty (20) State Team Titles beginning in 1973 and, most recently, in 2015. Along with their numerous state and conference championship seasons, in its first 50 years, SRJC swim and dive has produced more than:
• 40 Individual National Champions
• 75 State/Conference Champions
• 500 All-Americans
• 200 Academic All Americans
• 300 All-Conference Athletes
• 150 School Records
• 40 Conference Records
• 6 State Records
• 4 State Swimmers/Divers of the Year
• 20 Conference Swimmers/Divers of the Year
• 15 State/Conference Coach of the Year Awards
The team consistently averages above a 3.0 GPA and the most common majors are psychology, kinesiology, nursing, fire tech, and administrative justice. The top transfer school destinations include UC Davis, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, UC Santa Cruz, Cal Poly, Sonoma State, San Diego State, San Jose State, University of the Pacific, Redlands, Pepperdine, Azusa Pacific, Concordia, and more.
The new Aquatics Center will enable the development of more programs at all levels including collegiate, high school, club, city, and county. In addition to serving a wide variety of aquatic sports programs, the pool will be vital in the development of SRJC “learn to swim” programs and curriculum, certification programs like Water Rescue, and Lifeguarding and Scuba.
SRJC’s Head Swim and Dive Coach Jill McCormick said, “As a former Bear Cub athlete, I know that SRJC has a long tradition of offering its students a robust aquatics program. However, our current pools have become worn and outdated over the past several decades of heavy use. This new state-of-the-art aquatic facility, along with the renovation of our existing indoor pool and locker rooms, will allow us to enhance our competitive intercollegiate opportunities for our athletes and to expand our learn-to-swim, fitness, and adapted PE course offerings. It is a dream come true for me and for generations of SRJC students to come.”
Not only will the new Aquatics Complex be an important resource for the college, but it will also provide a host of new and improved opportunities for greater engagement with the community. With this new facility, the overall health and wellness of our community will be improved and enhanced. The pool will also provide a new home for Santa Rosa’s Neptune Swim Team, one of the oldest swimming teams in Northern California. Currently utilizing Ridgeway Swim Center, the team operates on a year-round basis and is open to all levels of swimmers from age five through college. Like SRJC, the Neptunes have consistently produced many of the region’s top swimmers from age group champions to Olympic Gold Medalists.
With the addition of the new pool comes a whole host of attractive naming opportunities for donors, including naming of the pool itself. Naming donations will go to the SRJC Aquatics Endowment Fund to ensure funding in perpetuity for coaches, equipment, and community programs.
J Mullineaux, Executive Director of the SRJC Foundation said, “State funding for athletics does not cover the cost for officials at meets, necessary training and performance equipment, uniforms, or invaluable assistant coaches. When the student-athletes travel for competition, they are often forced to cover most meal and travel expenses, including buses and hotel rooms, out of pocket, or through fundraising. Gifts to SRJC Athletics help student-athletes to focus on their studies and their sport. Athletics donors fulfill the promise of higher education and provide an opportunity for immediate impact in the lives of students and the community we share.”
Live progress on the construction of the new pool facility can be viewed online: http://streaming.bond.santarosa.edu/ui3.htm#
