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JimTingen (above) works on diving form.
Pool can be divided into sections
by floating bulkheads (right).
_ _ _ - - -
USC nata
By REX GALE
Gamecock Sports Writer
Whenever a swimming pool is
given the name "natatorium"
there must be something special
about it.
Such is the case with the new
home of the Carolina swim team.
The natatorium was modeled after
two of the most impressive
collegiate pools in the country,
those at the Universities of Indiana
and Tennessee. It consists of a 50
meter olympic size swimming pool
with a floating bulkhead which can
divide the pool in half, and a diving
pool complete with platform dive
and four other diving boards. The
pool has an electronic Omega
timin system that records the
time rom the moment they leave
the starting blocks to the second
they touch at the end of the race.
The time up to a thousandth of a
second, is immediately relayed to
large scoreboard along with the
order of finish.
The water is always calm, even
when the swimmers are in the pool,
because of gutters along the sides
that drain the waves as they reach
the side and keep them from going
back into the pool. There are
observation windows below the
surface of the water that enable
both swimmers and divers to be
watched for technique and form.
And when the chlorine is computer
controlled.
How helpful will the natatorium
be to head coach Alan Gentry and
the performance of the s'wim
team?
"A facility doesnt make your
team fast," Gentry said. And the
4-.
~NMI
torium sp,
performance of the Carolina swim
teams last year bears witness to
that. Competing in the old pool, the
men ended the season with 7-3
record, and won the National In
dependent Championships and
placed fourth in the Southern
Intercollegiate Championsips. The
women breezed through an un
defeated regular season, and won
both the Southern Intercollegiate
and South Carolina State Cham
pionships.
But there are advantages the
new pool will give the Gamecocks.
Last year hhe swimmers and
divers had to practice at different
times because of small size of the
old pool. The natatorium enables
all of the swimmers and divers to
practice together, and unique
practice sessions are being used by
Gentry.
"We have a better situation,"
Gentry said. "We have the faster
girls swim with the faster guys,
and the slower girls swim with the
slower guys. They really give each
other some tough competition.
Although there is a new pool and
new facilities, the economy has
caused the number of scholarships
to be drastically cut, but according
to Gentry, it really didn't bother
recruiting.
"Many freshmen we have
recruited turned down scholar
ships at other schools to come to
Carolina," Gentry said. "There
have been economic cutbacks that
we just can't help. The number of
scholarships we can offer has been
cut, and right now we have many
non-scholarship athletes that
would be on scholarship if we had
Ten lane pooi (le
the largest in the
Gamecock Staff
Johnny Drumna
the money. We just don't
Everyone is in the same situation
and we just have to make' the best
with what we've got." he said.
Gentry is looking forward to the
coming year. "We have just about
the same schedule we had last
year," he said, "and we have a lot
of good swimmers."
Among those are two freshmen,
Dick Kline and Dean Hamilton who
have impressed Gentry, as well as
diver Don Simmons, Link Doyle, a
sprinter and Don Fischer, a
middle distance swimmer.
Janet Green, assistant women's
coach, has been equally impressed
with her swimmers. "Sue Hite
looks real strong," she said, "and
Lynn Smith, Tina Hasselberg and
Jody Pattersen should really help
us."
Back from last years squad are
Nancy Grimm and Cricket Rob
bins, who both competed in the
National Championships last
spring.
Both squads are impressive, as
is the pool in which they will
compete. And both squads look
ahead to the National Independent
Championships that will be held
here at Carolina this spring. But
ahead is a lot work and training,
because even the natatorium
doesn't guarantee success. As
Gentry said, "a facility doesn't
make your team fast."
ft) is one of
country.
Photos by
ings