By Katelynn Luu
The Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) pool had been undergoing reconstruction and remodeling throughout the 2023-2024 school year before being completed in July. On Thursday, a ribbon-cutting ceremony officially commemorated and announced the completion of the new Ray Bray Aquatics Center.
The new pool is now one 25-yard lap pool with 14 lanes that are seven feet deep on the deep end and 3 feet and 6 inches deep on the shallow end.
In addition to the new pool, FVHS also received new diving blocks, new lane lines, new flags and new cages. The FVHS pool remodel has been part of a plan from the Huntington Beach Union High School District since 2009. FVHS is the last school to have its pool rebuilt in the plan.
Built in 1966, the previous pool had two pools: one 25-yard lap pool with seven lanes that were 4 feet deep on the diving side and 3 feet deep on the shallow side, and one diving well that was seven feet deep.
Due to the small size of the diving well and the shallow depth of the pool, the water polo team struggled to practice without a space where they could hold scrimmages. The team also had to hold home games at other schools. During the construction of the pool last year, the water polo team also held practices at Marina High School.
“The new pool … [makes] it more convenient for students to just come to the pool right after school instead of driving to Marina [for practice],” senior Anderson Luu, captain of the swim team and the boys’ water polo team, said. “With the new size, we can run more scrimmages; [there’s] more room for practice.”
Although the swim team was able to hold home swim meets at FVHS with the old pool, they relocated their practices and home games during the reconstruction last year to Edison High School.
“Last year was a struggle training all the time with not having our own pool and going late at night,” head varsity swim coach Nathan Wilcox said. “We have more numbers this off-season than we did last year, and we’re looking forward to having more numbers for the team as well, too.”
The swim team also struggled with the shallow depth of the pool and few lanes. Dives were difficult and sometimes dangerous to practice with the risk of injury from diving too deep and hitting the bottom of the pool.
“When I [used to dive] off of the block, I struggled to do my underwater dolphin kicks because I was too close to the bottom [of the pool],” senior Leyna Nguyen, a member of the swim team, said. “I would just float there, which is slow … Now, I can dive and start fast without worry.”
Although the new size of the pool has benefitted both the swim and water polo teams, the old pool had amenities such as a shed for equipment and rooms for team meetings and storage that have yet to be added to the new pool.
“Since the girl’s locker room is attached to the deck and the boys’ locker room so close to the pool deck we are not adding team rooms at this time,” FVHS Principal Paul Lopez said. “We are meeting as a school with the coaches to come up with a plan for raising money for new bleachers … none of the schools who had pools built received money for bleachers, and we are not asking boosters to pay for the bleachers on their own.”
