It was during a Thursday practice session that members of OPRF’s boy’s swimming team could see, and feel, that the chlorine levels in the school pool were high.
But poor water conditions haven’t been the only thing both boys and girls swimmers have had to deal with concerning OPRF’s old pools. Students and parents took their complaints and concerns to the school board on Jan. 19.
The recent cancellation of home-meets for the school’s diving team, due to the east pool diving board not being in compliance with new state safety guidelines, have exacerbated feelings among parents and their kids.
More than a dozen people spoke at last Thursday’s board meeting. The public comments portion had to take place in the third floor library to accommodate the large crowd.
The students shared stories about problems ranging from dirty water to having inadequate showers and bathrooms, as well as having to share pool access with rodents and roaches. The girls have traditionally used the east pool while the boys swim in the west pool. Most who spoke encouraged the school to find a solution. Some suggested either renovating the current pools or finding space at one of the park district facilities such as the nearby Ridgeland Common.
Members of the boy’s team, who survived the chlorine issues earlier that day, spoke at the meeting. Though many of the public comments took a serious tone, the boys’ take on the pools drew occasional laughter.
“When we go into the pools we don’t know what we’re going to find,” said Sam Heidorn, an OPRF swimmer. “A lot of time we find dead rodents, animals, cockroaches all around. I hate to be disgusting but this is what we worry about.”
Sam Bruno, another swimmer, noted that only five of their pool’s 15 showers actually work. The boy’s practice earlier that Thursday was cancelled because of the high chlorine levels.
“Our mouths were getting dry, our eyes were hurting. Our hair was disgusting, so we had to stay in the shower for 20 minutes just to get the chlorine out,” said Heidorn, who encouraged the school to build a new swimming facility or work out a deal at Ridgeland Common to enclose its outdoor pool.
Other speakers also pushed for the school to find an alternative solution with the Park District of Oak Park.
Mahala Miller, an OPRF synchronized swimmer, said she’s had problems seeing underwater during home meets because the water isn’t clear.
“For a synchronized swimmer, that’s incredibly difficult,” she said. “We have to make eye contact underwater in order to get in positions. That’s just a huge concern of ours. And there also is a concern with your eyes because you’re kind of wondering what are those floaty things?”
Other speakers said OPRF is at a competitive disadvantage because other teams in their conference have newer facilities. And one parent invited board members to tour OPRF’s pools to see the problems for themselves.
Though that request wasn’t specifically addressed, board President Dietra Millard said the board will take all of the suggestions under consideration. Supt. Steven Isoye added the school is talks with their architects to identify pool consultants to help find solutions.
Speaking with Wednesday Journal on Monday, OPRF athletic director John Stelzer explained that making dramatic structural changes to the pools was not an easy fix. Knocking down a wall to expand the pool, he added, would affect other uses of that area, including access to an upper storage area and basement stairwell, as well as a buildings and ground equipment area.
“Could it be done? It could, but it’s not as easy as let’s knock down a wall and expand here. We have a lot of needs we try to accommodate,” Stelzer said.
