CLU pool ready for competition
By Nancy Needham nancy@theacorn.com

BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers The new pool at Cal Lutheran University

Many years ago, California Lutheran College built a small pool around which officials would gather to barbecue and talk about how they were going to build a great university.

Today CLU is a larger university that just opened a giant pool where students can compete in diving, swimming and water polo.

"This pool can lift the spirits of our students and motivate them to be better athletes and students," said Dan Kuntz, director of athletics.

The pool holds 800,000 gallons of water- more than the water tower on the hill, Kuntz said.

That water fills a 50-meter Olympic competition pool that is 7 feet deep on its shallow end. Divers can plunge off 3-meter diving boards into the 14-foot deep end.

In addition to the water, something called a bulkhead, a movable wall made of fiberglass, can be configured in different ways, making the pool more versatile. It can be used as a safety feature for coaching and training and for lifeguards to use as a walkway, Kuntz said. It can also hold up water polo goals.

Also, there is a Daktronics scoreboard and time system that can be used for both water polo scorekeeping and timing swimmers.

The pool had its initiation on Jan. 29 during what was called "The Plunge," where members from the swim, water polo and dive teams all jumped into the pool at once. The teams are now practicing regularly and holding their matches at the pool.

Before the pool opened, athletes had to go to Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village for practices. That meant they had to leave the CLU campus and drive over to the other pool twice a day, once in the morning and again around noon. Their classes had to include drive times, and that wasn't easy for them, Kuntz said.

Even with that hardship, the not yet three-year-old aquatic program at CLU has found itself in the spotlight.

"Three years ago our coaches came to this school knowing we didn't have a pool yet," Kuntz said. "With dedication and hard work we now have two swimmers competing nationally."

Freshman Merle Vermillion and senior Christa Ratcliff have been asked to compete in Texas at the National Collegiate Athletic Competition. The two swimmers were selected along with 134 other athletes from 400 Division III schools across the country, Kuntz said.

Also, two water polo team members, freshman Matt Heagy and junior Scott Bredesen Jr., have been honored as AllAmericans. And CLU coach Craig Rond was named NCAA Division III Top Coach in 2006, the athletic director said.

"Just think what they can do now that they have a home, with an improved level of comfort to train," he said.