NEWPORT BEACH : Community Pools Effort, Builds Pool

More than three years ago, a group of parents interested in improving the swimming pool at Corona del Mar High School approached then-principal Dennis Evans for suggestions. Evans took them outside, pointed to a grass field with a few volleyball courts, and asked them to use their imaginations.

On Monday, members of the Corona del Mar swim teams took their first practice strokes in the new $1.6-million pool. The Marian Bergeson Aquatic Facility, as the beige and white Olympic-size complex is called, was officially opened over the weekend.

“The only reason we were able to do it was the amount of community support we had,” said Ralph Rodheim, who spearheaded the project.

The facility includes a 50-meter pool, a weight room, lockers for boys and girls, and office space.

More than $750,000 came from the city of Newport Beach, another $325,000 from the Newport Mesa Unified School District and $75,000 from the county. The remainder was raised through corporate and personal donations, swimming events and school benefits, and the sale of commemorative tiles which now decorate the team room walls.

The pool will be used for aquatics team practices, physical education classes and city swimming programs, and will be available to the public, Rodheim said. The pool is large enough for the water polo team to practice at one end while community swim lessons are held at the other.

Sheila Hecker, one of the three captains of the girls’ swim team at Corona del Mar, said that “before, when you would swim in a lane, you’d always be hitting elbows with somebody else. The freshman and sophomore teams were really crowded, and a lot of people, I don’t know if they quit because of it, but they didn’t always come to practice.”

Hecker, along with her co-captains Megan Rodheim and Jill Welputt, have seen the project through since the beginning. Yet, none of them will be able to use the pool, as the opening came after April 25--the date of their final home swim meet.

“We were pretty disappointed,” Rodheim said. “It’s kind of like, we’ve been thinking about it since we were freshmen and we thought we would be able to go against (Newport Harbor High School) in the new pool . . . everybody’s been working toward this pool.”

Builders originally planned to have the pool open in time for senior swimmers to compete in one meet in the new pool. But the state swimming code requirements held up the last stages of the project, said Mary Lou Gray, a parent involved in the project from the beginning. To make up for the delay, an unofficial swim meet was held at the dedication.

“It’s something that we always dreamed of, but we never really expected it and when it started to come together, well, it was great,” said Jill Welputt.