{"id":141434,"date":"2015-07-07T09:00:26","date_gmt":"2015-07-07T16:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=141434"},"modified":"2015-07-07T07:49:30","modified_gmt":"2015-07-07T14:49:30","slug":"greensboro-aquatic-center-more-than-just-a-pool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/greensboro-aquatic-center-more-than-just-a-pool\/","title":{"rendered":"Greensboro Aquatic Center: More Than Just A Pool"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>By Alex Labonge, Swimming World College Intern<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Greensboro has suddenly become a hub for swimming activity in the United States thanks to the 4-year-old Greensboro Aquatic Center.\u00a0 The facility has hosted world-class meets, but the pool and its staff have had a far greater impact on the Greensboro community than ever imagined.<\/p>\n<p>Many people ignorant to the swimming world question the powerful effect an aquatic facility can have on a community. \u00a0The Greensboro Aquatic Center, or GAC, originally failed its bonds voting twice before finally being passed by the voters. \u00a0The facility itself cost approximately $19 million, a hefty sum to the taxpayers\u00a0of Greensboro.<\/p>\n<h2>The Success<\/h2>\n<p>The GAC, however, was destined for success before the first swimmer even entered the water. \u00a0Two major meets were already on the schedule, 2012 YMCA Short Course Nationals and the 2012 Spring Masters Nationals. \u00a0According to Greensboro&#8217;s Convention and Visitors Bureau, these two meets had a total economic impact of over $8 million on the community.<\/p>\n<p>The figures that quantify the Aquatic Center&#8217;s success are staggering. \u00a0The facility has hosted 50 meets, totaling 115 days of competition in the last year alone. \u00a0Through the pool&#8217;s fourth year of operation, the facility has surpassed $100 million in economic impact for the city and has also led to the filling of 85,700 hotel rooms. \u00a0It has paid back the community five times over in its first four years of existence.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Hosting Women&#8217;s Divison I NCAAs this past year was a real culminating event for the success that we have had,&#8221; sad Greensboro Aquatic Center manager <strong>Susan Braman.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Five\u00a0American records, 6 NCAA Records, 7 meet records, and 15 pool records were set during Women&#8217;s Division I NCAAs at GAC. \u00a0All of these records can mean only one thing: this pool is fast!<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_127967\" style=\"width: 710px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/breaststroke-start-wncaa-di-2015-1396-e1435334332542.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-127967\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-127967\" src=\"http:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/breaststroke-start-wncaa-di-2015-1396-e1435334332542-700x500.jpg\" alt=\"Start at NCAA championships\" width=\"700\" height=\"500\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-127967\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The GAC&#8217;s future is bright, with major meets booked for many years to come. Men&#8217;s and Women&#8217;s ACC Championships will be held in Greensboro for the next seven years as well as Division II and III NCAA Championships.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Aquatic Center has definitely raised the level of competition in Greensboro,&#8221; said former Swim GSA swimmer and current East Carolina University sophomore <strong>Tyler Zieg.<\/strong> \u00a0&#8220;Having championship meets here feels like I could be swimming anywhere, it doesn&#8217;t just feel down the road from home.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Constant renovations are being done to keep the facility top-notch, including widening the diving platforms and increasing deck space.<\/p>\n<h2>Beyond Racing<\/h2>\n<p>While there has been great success from a meet standpoint, a lesser known, deeper success is occurring. \u00a0The facility has a community outreach program that works with second graders in Guilford County to teach them how to swim. \u00a0The program consists of 10-50 minutes lessons, with all required equipment provided to the students. \u00a0The program is unique because it is aligned with Guilford County School&#8217;s curriculum for Healthful Living Standards. \u00a0To date, the program has graduated over 1,700 students, providing them with the basic aquatic skills they need.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Our goal is to teach every second grader in the county how to swim,&#8221; said Braman.<\/p>\n<p>This past year, over 16,000 people ranging from infants to adults participated in learn-to-swim programs at the facility.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, the Greensboro Aquatic Center has been huge for the city in more ways than one. \u00a0Other cities around the nation should study Greensboro&#8217;s success and add aquatic facilities. \u00a0While the initial cost may seem large, these centers are not burdens on the city economically and can drastically enhance the quality of life for a large portion of the population.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Alex Labonge, Swimming World College Intern Greensboro has suddenly become a hub for swimming activity in the United States thanks to the 4-year-old Greensboro Aquatic Center.\u00a0 The facility has<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17],"tags":[31469,34933,27340,27338,52524,251,38455,52525],"class_list":["post-141434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary","tag-alex-labonge","tag-east-carolina-university","tag-greensboro-aquatic-center","tag-greensboro-north-carolina","tag-greensboros-convention-and-visitors-bureau","tag-ncaa","tag-susan-braman","tag-tyler-zieg"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>Greensboro Aquatic Center: More Than Just A Pool<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Greensboro has suddenly become a hub for swimming activity in the United States thanks to the 4-year-old Greensboro Aquatic Center. 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