Ohio State Synchronized Swimming Says Farewell to Mike Peppe Aquatic Center – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Artistic Swimming
March 1, 2005
Columbus, Ohio – The Ohio State synchronized swimming team (14-0) will play host to the North Regional Championships at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Varisty Pool at Larkins Hall. The event will feature both technical and routine events. The meet will mark the final meet in the Varsity Pool. The synchronized swimming team will move into the McCorkle Aquatics Pavilion next season.
GOODBYE SENIORS
The meet Saturday will be the final home event for Ohio State seniors Marjorie Ardito, Heather Burdick, Stacey Coffman, Mary Elliott, Bethany Galla, Valerie Jolibois, Lauren Marsh and Lindsay Newbill.
DID YOU KNOW?
The Ohio State synchronized swimming team began as the Ohio State Swan Club in 1928. The program was established by a group of university students interested in form swimming and diving.
The team started with open swimming, but by the 1930s, it had developed into a production team that put on water shows. The 1940s brought about the first judged competitions between schools.
In the early 1950s, the squad gained support through coverage in Ohio State’s Makio Yearbook. As the program expanded, the schedule grew to about five or six competitions a year in the 1960s.
The late 1960s saw the introduction of the Midwest Championships as well as many more shows and demonstrations. In 1969, the Ohio State synchronized swimming team captured its first Midwest Championship title under the leadership of head coach Hollis Matson.
Since the Collegiate National Championships began in 1977, the Buckeye program has been supreme in its success.
THE FUTURE IS NEAR
The Ohio State University currently is in the process of building a new aquatics center, the Bill and Mae McCorkle Aquatics Pavilion, that will be equipped to play host to the most premier swimming and diving and synchronized swimming events in the United States. Scheduled for completion in early 2005, the McCorkle Aquatics Pavilion will house the Mike Peppe Natatorium, which will feature a 50-meter world-class competition pool; the Ron O’Brien Diving Well; and a spectator seating area. The pavilion also will house four coaching offices, men’s and women’s locker rooms, a training room and meeting and conference rooms.
The center will be comprised of five pools, including a 10-lane, 50-meter by 25-meter competition pool that will be 10-feet deep throughout. The facility will feature 1,400 permanent spectator seats, 700 on each side, with the ability to add temporary seating. The decks will be 20-feet wide, 15-feet at the ends and 20-feet between the lap pool and the diving well. The 25-meter by 18-meter diving well will be 20-feet deep, with a 3- centerline tower and a 3- and 1-meter spring board capability on all four walls. In addition to diving competition, the diving well will be used for warm-up and warm-down sessions by competing swimmers. The aquatic center also will house a 25-yard recreational lap pool, a 25-yard class pool and a leisure pool equipped with water slides and currents. When construction is complete, Ohio State plans on playing host to the USA national championships, the Big Ten championships and other high-tier national and local events.
THE 2005 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2005 Collegiate National Championships is slated for March 24-26 in Gainesville, Fla. The event will be held at the Stephen C. O’Connell center on the Unviersity of Florida campus. Tickets are available for $5 at the door Thursday and Friday. For further information, visit the official website of United State Synchronized Swimming at www.usasynchro.org. Compete results as well as photographs from the Collegiate National Championships also will be posted to the site.
LAST TIME OUT
The Buckeyes won the Maize and Blue Invitational Feb. 13 with a total of 102 points, to beat Michgan (82), Walsh (75) and Grand Valley State (6.5).
Ohio State junior Leslie Edgerton claimed first place in the solo event for the Buckeyes, recording a score of 86.000. Freshman sisters Leah Pinette and Leayn Pinette won the duet with a mark of 89.500, while teammates Michelle Benzie and Julia Broadfoot took second with a score of 88.000. Juniors Jessica Beck, Megan Mikulecky, and Stephanie Raftery placed first in trio with a mark of 89.000. Benzie, Stacey Coffman and Erin Schmidt finished second with a score of 86.667.The Buckeyes also took home first place honors in the team event with a score of 92.167. Swimming for Ohio State was Beck, Benzie, Coffman, Edgerton, Leayn and Leah Pinette, Raftery and Schmidt.
UP NEXT
Upon qualification, the Buckeyes will head to Gainesville, Fla., for the 2005 Collegiate National Championships.
