Out of all the new and exciting renovations introduced to Bolles this year, one of the most anticipated has to be the improvements to the swim team’s out of the water training facility, welcome center and the Champions Club.
Groundbreaking day was on January 21, when head of school Mr. Hodges announced that the plans for construction are official. These projects have been planned for almost seven years.
The first of four new additions to this facility is the Coach Greg Troy Welcome Center, which is named after the legendary Bolles swim coach Greg Troy. Swim team parents Chris and Shelly Lanning donated the funds for the center. This room will showcase the impressive history and accomplishments of the past and present athletes who swim through the Bolles swimming program.
The dryland room will house state-of-the-art workout equipment and house 60-70 occupants at a time, allowing for much more space for the swim team’s out of the water activities.
Finally, the Hodges Champions Club will be located in between the football stadium and Uible pool, and will contain two major improvements to the facility. The champions club is a two story building, containing offices for the swim coaches, and the Chester Skinner Champions Suite, which will allow guests to view both the football field and the pool. This facility will be added on top of the locker rooms at the Uible pool. This was all made possible by the generous donations from Steve Gold, the estate of Kernan and George Hodges Jr., and Rusty Newton and Kathy Skinner Newton.
Head Coach Peter Verhoef is excited for all of the new renovations and additions to the facility. He feels that the new coaches’ offices will allow for a more personal connection between coaches and swimmers. He is also eager to showcase the impressive achievements of the Bolles swimmers with the welcome center.
Overall, though, Verhoef feels that the improvement that will benefit the team the most is the new weight room and dryland facility. The close proximity will allow for quicker transition times from in and out of the pool, and the ability for the swim team to have its own weight room gives the team the convenience of scheduling weight sessions around their own time and not having to worry about conflicting with other teams. He says that the team will benefit greatly from having the extra time given by the easier transitions.
On top of all of this, the swimmers are also very excited for these much anticipated renovations. This has been planned since 2019, Swimmer Ransom Reback ‘28 says that the new renovations and upgrades will be able to elevate the team’s training, recovery, and culture. Swimmer Dillon Spoon ‘29 stated that he is really looking forward to the renovations of the dryland room, and Senior Kaden Townsend ‘26 said the renovations will play a big part in fostering the strength of the future generations of Bolles swimmers.
The entire swim team is thankful for the generous contributions from donors to make these improvements possible. The Bolles swimming program will soon be stepping into its next phases of the program.
