Swimming team venue

Anything we're missing?
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ngineer
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Swimming team venue

Post by ngineer » Wed Dec 05, 2018 1:00 pm

I know S & D does not get much PR/attention, but I saw on the LU site that they are going against LaSalle, but the meet being held at Emmaus HS. Something wrong with our pool? I know it is a dinosaur and find it amazing how well we do and recruit with such old facilities. Certainly, excellent coaching goes a long way.


TMH
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Re: Swimming team venue

Post by TMH » Fri Dec 07, 2018 11:08 am

The move to Emmaus for this one meet was simply strategic and brilliant IMHO. Emmaus is a swimming powerhouse and Lehigh has been looking to make inroads there for years. Attendance was really good and the teams performed very well, winning both meets handily.
As for our venue, I had proposed the idea of turning one of the Mountaintop hangars into a combination natatorium/basketball court facility since with the expansion Taylor gym is woefully undersized. My suggestions however typically go nowhere :-)
Richb-3
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Re: Swimming team venue

Post by Richb-3 » Fri Dec 07, 2018 2:10 pm

Be ambitious, Build a new Arena one one side of the mountain or the other, and convert Stabler into a 4500 seat natatorium :-)
TMH
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Re: Swimming team venue

Post by TMH » Fri Dec 07, 2018 2:34 pm

Ahh...someone else is admiring the Bucknell layout.

Personally I think we are cramming too much onto the Packer campus now and we are very much under-utilizing the Mountaintop. They have several unused Bethlem Steels bays that to my knowledge are vacant. I would be concerned about a glut of "entertainment venues" in the Lehigh Valley right now. Anything involving Stabler should be designed for Lehigh use only. Just my opinion.
TMH
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Re: Swimming team venue

Post by TMH » Fri Dec 07, 2018 2:35 pm

With that in mind, a chair lift should be back on the drawing board :-)
LU808
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Re: Swimming team venue

Post by LU808 » Sun Dec 09, 2018 1:54 pm

Be ambitious, Build a new Arena one one side of the mountain or the other, and convert Stabler into a 4500 seat natatorium...

Goodman Stadium lights before this investment.
Shadow1
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Re: Swimming team

Post by Shadow1 » Sun Dec 09, 2018 2:06 pm

The University invests little in athletic facilities and only on repairs - virtually nothing in new iniaitives such as mentioned. The recent additions have been paid for and built with donor money. In my view, this needs to change to bring sports like swimming - and a number of others up to standard. If LU invested $ 5 million a year for the next several years in the Athletic program, it would make an enormous difference.
TMH
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Re: Swimming team venue

Post by TMH » Sun Dec 09, 2018 5:26 pm

I'm not sure I understand your point. It's my understanding that virtually all physical plant additions and major renovations is funded by the generosity of donors as is the case with all private colleges.

As for improvements, didn't we recently complete Leadership Park (softball), Legacy Field (baseball), major renovations for tennis, a fieldhouse for Track and Field and the Caruso wrestling complex all in the last 3-4 years?
Richb-3
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Re: Swimming team venue

Post by Richb-3 » Sun Dec 09, 2018 7:06 pm

I think it is obvious that I believe lights at Goodman should be #1 facility improvement for LU athletics. And I could see lots of less expensive improvements: to Leeman-Turner, Stabler, How about an actual facility for Rugby or Frisbee.

But clearly the pools are like Pre-WW2. Be great to have a Natatorium like Bucky or F+M or Navy, but damn, they are a lot of money. Back during the 90s(?) Chris Marshall had the swimming teams constantly in competition for the PL title with Army and Navy. Marshall then stopped coaching to take over Alumni relations (or was it development), I suspect that was to try to get funds for a 21st century pool. It didn't happen, and he went elsewhere.
Shadow1
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Re: Swimming team venue

Post by Shadow1 » Sun Dec 09, 2018 7:54 pm

TMH

To repeat : little to zero Lehigh University momey was expended for the projects mentioned: soft softball, track building, etc.
It was all financed by alums and other donors.
My point is that the University should be doing more to build out needed facilities for the sports teams. Most other private universities and, of course, the public schools use school momey to get stuff done. Otherwise, it will take forever for lights, a pool, and other needs.
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