On February 24, the Department of Athletics and Recreation announced that the University’s swimming pool will remain closed for the remainder of Spring Quarter. In an email announcement to the Ratner open swim listhost, they added that the closure could extend “into early summer.” Housed in the Ratner Athletics Center, the Myers-McLoraine Pool is constantly utilized by athletes, students, and the Hyde Park community alike. I have rarely seen it empty—until one month ago. 

The pool is the Swimming and Diving teams’ home base and served as the location of the UAA Championships last year. During the swim season, its use is vital, not only for UChicago but also for other schools in the division. Despite its importance, the administration has kept the cause of the closure quiet. The student body at large has not received any information from facility managers; however, the department has released small amounts of information to student staff.

According to one student lifeguard, this is not the first time something like this has happened. Last year, at the end of the swim season, the City of Chicago and State of Illinois informed the athletic facility that the pool had failed inspections due to issues with the drain covers. However, since the team was about to compete at Nationals, the assessors allowed usage of the pool as long as the University made improvements by the beginning of the following year. These improvements were not made.

This raises an obvious question: who is responsible for this closure? The situation remains extremely unclear. According to another lifeguard, the swim team coaches were unaware of the issue. Furthermore, the reopening process is at a complete standstill.  

Meanwhile, the swimming and diving teams have been forced to commute to the Illinois Institute of Technology and to the University of Illinois Chicago, about twenty and thirty minutes away, respectively. A member of the swimming and diving team recounted, “The extra commuting time and having to practice at odd hours during finals week made that period more than stressful.” 

But the central problem was one of transparency. “I think what really frustrated everyone was not knowing what was going on. Even now that the season is over, losing the pool for this long is worrying,” the student added. The pool additionally brings in thousands of dollars through community swim lessons in the spring, and the swimming and diving team relies on this for new equipment and other expenses.

The lack of adequate attention given to athletics at the University has become a perennial issue. Another member of the swimming and diving team voiced the same. “This seems like a clear case where the university’s maintenance and planning processes failed, and I think it raised broader questions about accountability and how similar issues are handled.” 

Although the undergraduate student body is over 7,000 strong, there are only two public gymnasiums on campus, each with an interior that feels barely larger than a Kent lecture hall. The equipment rooms are constantly full. The Myers-McLoraine Pool had seemed to be the outlier. That is, until now.