Chris Carver, the legendary coach of the Santa Clara Aquamaids, walked into the George F. Haines International Swim Center on a recent Thursday — just as she’s done nearly every day for the last 44 years.
She thought about how lucky she’s been to be a part of an aquatics community for which she’s coached multiple U.S. Olympic synchronized swimming teams and led to her induction into the International Swimming Hall of Fame last year.
But then her eyes dropped to the worn pavement, rusty tiles and peeling paint of the nearly 60-year-old facility that has been home to some of the most famous U.S. swimmers and coaches in history. Twenty-three world records have been set there, and George Haines’ Santa Clara Swim Club, which the late renowned Olympic coach started in the 1950s, has produced 80 Olympians who have won 51 medals at the games.
“I wonder how long the old girl will last,” Carver recalled thinking.
The next morning, she got her answer.
On Friday, Jan. 12, swimmers and coaches showed up for practice before the sun had even come up to find a notice from the city of Santa Clara stating that because of the swim center’s dilapidated condition, it would be “closed until further notice.”
The closure sent shock waves through the local aquatics community. Santa Clara Swim Club head coach Kevin Zacher said spirits and morale were low among his swimmers — some of whom have trained at the facility for a decade or more.
The pool is more than just a home to the many swimmers, divers, water polo players and synchronized swimmers who use it. It’s a piece of swimming history.
“The legacy, it’s on the books,” Carver said. “Everyone knows Santa Clara — doesn’t matter where you go in the world of aquatics. This is the New York Yankee Stadium of swimming.”
Some of the greatest Olympic swimmers of the 20th century trained there, including Don Schollander, Donna de Varona and Mark Spitz — one of the most decorated Olympians of all time, who won seven gold medals at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.
For decades, the facility hosted the annual Santa Clara International Grand Prix, which brought swimmers from around the world to the Mission City, including legends like Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and UC Berkeley alumni Natalie Coughlin. In 2003, a 17-year-old Phelps set what will most likely be the last of 23 world records recorded there.
Despite the swim center’s legacy, which made Santa Clara the center of the swimming world from its opening in 1965 through the 1970s, the facility has seen better days. In recent years, the pools and the buildings have started to show their age, and the swim center has been closed for months at a time for various maintenance issues.
But as yellow caution tape was strung around the facility, Zacher said this closure feels different. The suddenness has left the club and other groups using the swim center scrambling to find pools in the area — a difficult task as high schools gear up for swim season.
“There’s nothing in the area that’s going to meet the capacity that ISC has, so we’re going to be spread out, with kids swimming at different pools at different times,” Zacher said. “It’s going to be hard on families. We have a resilient bunch, we have a great community, we have great support, we’re going to get through it until hopefully the city can get something open and available to us.”
City spokesperson Janine De la Vega said the city hired a consultant team last August to review the conditions of the facility and make sure it met health and safety codes. On Jan. 11, top city officials met with the team and reviewed the findings, ultimately deciding to shutter the swim center for the foreseeable future.
“The consultant team recommended that the facility not be used until such time repairs or replacement could be implemented that address safety and structural concerns noted in their report,” De la Vega said. “Out of an abundance of caution, the city manager directed staff to close the facility immediately pending the completion and presentation of the consultant’s final report.”
De la Vega declined to answer questions about a long- or short-term plan for the facility, stating that the issue will be discussed at a Jan. 30 Santa Clara City Council meeting.
There have been several attempts to rebuild the swim center since the 1990s, but the city has always fallen short of securing the necessary funding.
Santa Clara officials had eyed the November 2020 election for a general obligation bond that would help fund a new swim center, but that changed when the pandemic hit. The city’s financial picture in 2022 was bleak as well, causing yet another delay.
Last year, Mayor Lisa Gillmor told the Mercury News that she hoped they could go to the voters with a bond in November 2024. Around the same time, Finance Director Kenn Lee said the city estimated a new swim center would cost anywhere from $30 million to more than $100 million to design and construct, either in the same place or somewhere else in Central Park.
Zacher said he feels like this moment might be “a blessing in disguise” as the pool has kept kicking along in the past.
“Now that it’s not useable, I’m hoping that it spurs some action and the community will really rally around,” he said. “The city of Santa Clara has such a long and storied history of swimming. We want to continue to be excellent in this and providing kids great activity, providing structure in their lives and keeping kids out of trouble.”
Carver, who watched as the once state-of-the-art facility fell into disrepair, hopes that something can be done to keep the current swim center going while a new one can be built.
“We are all concerned about the short run, but we’re also concerned about the long run, and we have been for a long time,” she said. “The city with its illustrious past, I’d like to see them still as the leader in aquatics. My hope is that it isn’t as dire as closing the center down permanently.”
