For over nine months, the pool at Palatine High School has been under construction, displacing its athletes to nearby Fremd and Buffalo Grove high schools. The new pool will be a significant upgrade in facilities.

“I think the main advantage of the new pool is that our athletes will be practicing in exactly the same environment as they compete in.” Administrator Michael Alther said. “We’re shooting for the beginning of second semester right after you guys get back from winter break.”

The estimated finish date has already been pushed back from November to January. The new facility will be uniform with all other schools in District 211 and will meet certain IHSA standards.The new facility will not only make training easier on the athletes, but will hopefully give a boost to numbers on the aquatics teams.

“Every other school has had about 20 new freshman the year after their pool got built, and we’re hoping to have that if not more.” Coach Joe Grzybek said.

There is plentiful enthusiasm from Palatine staff, but students are also excited about the change.

“I think it’s going to make training easier.” Freshman swimmer Christian Snyder said.

The new pool will have significantly newer and better equipment, such as a new scoreboard and wall-mounted pace clocks.

“I think having the new pool will definitely help us train harder and more efficiently,” junior Sean O’Brien said. “The updated equipment we’ll have is going to help with meets and polo games run a lot smoother, so I’m real excited for that.”

Palatine boys’ aquatics teams have taken in a dip in the recent years as far as success, and the coaching staff of these teams hopes the updated facility will breathe newfound life into their programs. The new pool has been a long time coming, but it will put Palatine on the cutting edge of high school aquatics.