Sunlight streams through the floor-to-ceiling windows as swimmers slice through the water.
Above—blue and gold flags flutter while their teammates crowd the gleaming starting blocks. Their chants of “Go! Go! Go!” echo off the high ceiling.
Parents man each lane—placing timing boards in the water before each event—manually recording the times to back up the automatic system that syncs to the huge screen across from the second-floor balcony.
From up there—dozens of spectators watch as history unfolds.
It’s the first swim meet in the Zierk Athletic Center. The first change in the Lions’ home water in more than five decades.
But even with all the new additions—the heart of it all feels the same.
Swimmers stare at the screen in anticipation—checking their times.
Students hold up their posters with huge faces on them for senior night.
Senior George Hoverman stands by the side of the pool, giving junior Richard Wang pointers on turning off the wall.
There’s still the same camaraderie. The same drive to push past the lactic acid. The same thrill and excitement for each other as personal record after personal record is smashed.
Because even though it’s a night of so many new firsts—the heart of Lions Swimming beats on.
Although Hoverman wishes he could have been in the new pool for another season—to him, swimming at the pool for the last meet of his high school career was spectacular.
“What gives tonight meaning—as the first senior class in the new pool—is that it’s our last time being able to swim for the school,” Hoverman said. “That’s really special in this new space.”
For senior Reagan Brower, the night of the first meet in the Levering Pool was bittersweet.
“I wish we could have had it for water polo, but at least we have it for swimming,” Brower said. “I know in club water polo we’ll use this pool, so I can always come back here. I’m just excited that this is finally a thing.”
Aquatics Teacher and Coach Trent Calder had his hands full managing everything.
“I was so focused on making sure that we got it off the ground,” Calder said. “Everybody came in, from coaches from other schools to administrators, and told me, ‘Wow, this is really impressive.’ Being able to honor the Leverings and getting to thank the alumni who poured so much of themselves into this school was really special. And then we had some great races and senior night in the middle was awesome.”
And for the school aquatics program as a whole, the Levering Pool is a game changer. Measuring 30 meters long by 25 meters wide with 12 lanes, the new pool is nearly twice the size of the old Ralph B. Rogers Natatorium.
“The amount of things that we can do and accommodate is amazing,” Calder said. “Having real water polo being played in our pool, having swim practices with everybody practicing at the same time; on the short side of stuff, what we could do with our Upper School and Middle School (aquatics) teams is unbelievable.”
The depth of the Levering Pool ranges from seven feet at its shallowest to 71/2 at its deepest, noticeably less variation than the Ralph B. Rogers Natatorium, which ranges from 3 feet to 12 feet at its deepest. The change not only means that water polo games can be played at a consistent depth but also that the new pool is faster for swimmers because of the deeper water.
Size changes, however, are far from the only notable upgrades from the old pool. The state-of-the-art competitive starting blocks feature adjustable starting wedges and additional handlebars, the former of which give swimmers a boost off the blocks and latter of which give swimmers different options for their dive and allow them to practice their technique. The modern design of the walls and gutters, too, help optimize each and every swim.
“The gutter system is far better at removing the energy that goes in and out of the walls, and that reverb, to kind of put it in a musical perspective, is going to get reduced,” Calder said. “That will allow swimmers so much more energy since they don’t have to fight through clean water.”
In preparation for the new pool, the aquatics program also acquired new touchpads and meet equipment, which will facilitate pool setup and ensure better timing accuracy.
Most importantly, the introduction of the Levering Pool will allow the school to once again host competitive meets and water polo tournaments, something that was difficult to accomplish because of the age and limitations of the Ralph B. Rogers Natatorium. The inclusion of three brand new aquatics locker rooms ensure students and visitors have the necessary storage space, and the second story viewing area gives spectators a bird’s eye view of the whole pool.
“It’s going to be a great place to compete,” Calder said. “Being able to host meets is awesome. Being able to host tournaments and games is something that we just haven’t done in a long, long time because back ten or 15 years ago, we were the only pool in town, so we could do that. Now we’re back to the point where we’re not the only pool in town, but we’re a good pool. We can help co-host things with Jesuit and have good tournaments in the Dallas area.”
But meets and tournaments are not the only things the new facilities will offer. As the Ralph B. Rogers Natatorium was in years past, the Levering Pool will also be open to the school community.
“When you look back at the history of the Rogers Natatorium and the number of lives that that pool changed, and what it’s done for the community and for St. Mark’s, it’s unbelievable,” Calder said. “It’ll be great to give back to the community. There’s a ton of alumni and people that used to swim here prior to the tornado and they’re excited about it too. A lot of great, great things are going to come out of this facility for future and past Marksmen.”
Following the move into the new natatorium, the old pool will be converted into an indoor turf area, marking the end of more than 40 years of swimming and water polo in the Rogers Natatorium. For all, it’s a bittersweet move, but Calder and the aquatics program embraces the opportunity to continue pushing the boundaries.
“I’ll miss the history of (the old natatorium),” Calder said. “I will keep the old pool records from Rogers Natatorium. Those will never die. I look at my predecessor, Mihai, what he did for this aquatics program, and I look up and see the (SPC) banners, and it’s far easier to count the years he didn’t win than it is to count the ones that he did win. So we’re trying to rejuvenate and continue.”
This year, the swimming program looks to capture a third consecutive Southwest Preparatory Conference 4A Division Championship title. The new facilities will undoubtedly propel the aquatics program to new heights.
“It’s an amazing facility. I hope that you guys recognize how special what you have here is,” Calder said. “This pool rivals a lot of amazing facilities out there, and you guys get to have this for a very long time. I hope that you, the student athlete, recognize how special it is and how hard people fought to get this pool and what it went through to get here, and that we make this a long legacy for many Marksmen to come.”