Swim meet provides a boost for Terre Haute

Mar. 5—Even during the pandemic, the Vigo County School Corp. Aquatic Center has an economic impact on the community, including this weekend, when it will host the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference 2021 Swimming and Diving Championships.

The competition will bring five colleges to Terre Haute to compete against Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and while the event won't allow spectators this year, those teams staying in hotels and eating at restaurants is estimated to bring $100,000 to the region for the weekend.

In pre-COVID years, the aquatic center brought more than $2 million of tourism dollars to the region per year through events, according to the school district.

"I think a lot of people don't realize how much this facility draws to town," said Bill Riley, VCSC director of communications. He anticipates that impact will only increase post-pandemic.

The aquatic center has hosted the Rose-Hulman conference meet the last four years, said Randy Jensen, aquatic center director. "We've been pretty fortunate to have that meet this year, especially now with all that's going on with the pandemic," he said.

The championship runs Friday through Sunday, and visiting teams are expected to stay at hotels, eat here and make other purchases. "It does add to the local economy," Jensen said. At a time when many people haven't been working because of the pandemic, "Hopefully this will be the start of something that will continue into the summer and fall."

The Terre Haute Convention and Visitors Bureau helps sponsor the event, providing hospitality for officials and meet workers as well as lodging for out-of-town officials. It sponsors many events at the aquatic center because of the economic impact of the center.

The Aquatic Center hosts high school home events for North, South and West Vigo swim and dive teams.

This is the fourth straight year it has hosted the HCAC Championships. In addition, the aquatic center hosts a regional club swim meet every other year that brings just under 400 swimmers and their families to Terre Haute for a weekend on top of three to four weekend club meets for the Terre Haute Torpedoes.

Two out of every three years, the facility hosts an IHSAA sectional meet, and it serves as the "home pool" for Indiana State University, hosting four to six meets per year.

Around 30 residents use the pool on Sundays for lap swim, with about 20 swimmers visiting weekday lap swim hours.

The $9.8 million aquatic facility, located in Voorhees Park, had its grand opening in January 2016. The 31,150-square-foot facility replaced aging pools at North Vigo, South Vigo and West Vigo high schools. The pools in the three high schools were old, obsolete, hard to fix and expensive to operate, officials said when proposing the aquatic center.

At the new facility, swimming and diving events can take place at the same time, which reduces the overall time for the meets.

The consolidated aquatic center has reduced the district's cost on pool maintenance and allowed for an Olympic-sized competition pool. The facility was paid off by the Vigo County School Corp. earlier this year.

Jensen said he and other pool staff do much of the pool maintenance. At North Vigo, cleaning a pool filter had to take place twice a week and it took about two hours. At the current facility, the pool filter is cleaned every three months and it takes about one hour.

While it has many benefits, the aquatic facility has drawn many critics through the years, in part because of costs and also because there is limited availability to the public.

"We built the pool for the kids," Jensen said. The facility also mirrors what other communities now have, especially in the Indianapolis metro area.

"We want facilities for our kids just like those kids [have]," he said. "Why wouldn't we want those things?"

Among those using the pool Thursday for diving practice was Samantha Stevens, a senior on the Rose-Hulman dive team. "It's a great facility. These boards are fantastic," she said.

Michael Nixon, a Rose-Hulman student from California, is on the swim and dive teams.

"I really enjoy competing here," he said. "This is a very nice complex to compete at, and it's definitely one of the best in our conference. Of all the meets we go to, I enjoy this one here the most." The facility is bright, with plenty of lighting, and it's well-kept, he said.

Sue Loughlin can be reached at 812-231-4235 or at sue.loughlin@tribstar.com Follow Sue on Twitter @TribStarSue.