The indoor pools at the University Recreation Center are filled with scaffolding rather than water.

What started as annual maintenance became a construction project when a structural engineering company found that there were major issues with the indoor pools, said Aubrey Kurz, the assistant director of aquatics at the rec center.

The pools can’t be refilled until they are fixed, she said. In addition to the repairs, the pools are being updated to be 50 meters deep. 

“It has been a very grueling and frustrating process, but these pools are from the 1970s, so what else should we expect,” Kurz said. “We desperately need new ones.”

The construction and repairs have forced the swimming and diving teams to practice off-campus.

Charles Millette, swimming and diving senior captain, said the teams expect a return to the recreation center in October, but are not one hundred percent sure when that will be.

Millete said the team is still practicing off-campus.

“This has forced us to train at Forest Park, an outdoor pool right by campus, as well as to utilize a high school pool about 15 minutes away,” Millette said. “Luckily, our coaches and staff have been working in order to keep us in the pool and have a consistent practice schedule.” 

Millette said the pool improvements may help attract new recruits and lead the team to success.

“We are one of the only Division I Power-Five programs that does not have a 50-meter pool,” said Millette. “To hope that this situation would lead to that changing is a slight stretch, but is hopefully something that will start the conversation.”

Kurz said that TCU Facilities and multiple construction companies involved in the process are working around the clock to reopen the new and improved pool facilities. 

TCU swimming and diving will compete against the University of Texas at the Dust Your Boots Off Invitational, its first collegiate competition of the year, on Oct. 7 in Austin, Texas.