With the ribbon cutting for the fourth pool on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex, the Greensboro Aquatic Center (GAC) became the largest indoor aquatic center in the country.
At the ribbon cutting ceremony, Mayor Nancy Vaughan said, “The GAC is not only the biggest facility but it is the best facility in the country.”
The new fourth pool adds 19 additional short course lanes or eight additional long course lanes. The new pool is a 27,000-square-foot addition to the GAC facility, including additional locker rooms and office space.
Greensboro Coliseum Complex Managing Director Matt Brown said, “The L-shaped design of this pool is unique in the country.”
Brown said, “This new pool is a direct result of the tremendous success of the GAC since its grand opening in 2011. We are thrilled to have the fourth pool to help meet the intense demand for bookings, including meets, practice time for local teams and clubs and our incredibly diverse array of GAC programming, including the phenomenal growth of our ‘Learn to Swim’ program with Guilford County Schools.”
Brown noted that since the program began, 7,000 second graders have learned to swim and that the endowment for the program had reached $400,000.
Brown said, “The GAC is saving lives and making our community healthier.”
Brown thanked the City Council for its support of the GAC, beginning with the vote to build it in 2009. He noted that the fourth pool was built without using any taxpayer dollars because it was fully funded with money from the Convention and Visitors Bureau with hotel-motel tax dollars.
Vaughan said that the GAC, by pulling in people from all over the country for swimming meets, had turned the Convention and Visitors Bureau into a money maker 12 months of the year. She said, “The entire City Council is in support of this project. We absolutely love it.”
After the ribbon cutting, second grade students from Archer Elementary School got to be the first in the pool for a special swimming lesson with Olympic swimmer Hali Flickinger.
