Make a splash in MHCC’s 25-meter pool

Since the COVID-era shutdown and eventual reopening of Mt. Hood Community College’s Aquatic Center, there has been a big piece missing. That would be the 25-meter indoor pool.

After the two-year pandemic hiatus at the Aquatic Center, it was discovered that there was major damage to the popular pool. Andrew Jackman, the Aquatics Center’s director, said workers discovered leaks in the pool originating from cement lining.

“Significant damage was discovered to the cement lining of the decks, gutters, viewing room, and viewing room window seals,” he said. Along with the cement liner being repaired, new pool lights and a “durable, non-slip epoxy” on the pool deck will be coming to the Center, with repairs slated to be completed next month (March).

Previously, the 25-meter pool has been home to many activities for the wider Mt. Hood and east Multnomah County community and students in the area. Community swim lessons, water exercise, and swim courses for MHCC students are slated to return along with the 25-meter pool opening. However, in order to run the Aquatic Center, the college needs additional staff. Jackman and others want students and the public to know that MHCC is currently hiring. To find out more on the Aquatic Center, check out its website and social media channels: https://www.mhcc.edu/Aquatics/ and https://www.facebook.com/MHCCAquaticsCenter. Personally, the 25-meter pool and the Aquatic Center has been a staple of my life since I was little. Starting in elementary school and throughout middle school I took swim lessons in the 25-meter pool. Along the way I learned the importance of swimming, made new friends, and had lots of fun.

I was in the final term of my swim lessons before officials closed the pool due to the COVID pandemic. To say I was devastated would be an understatement. The Aquatic Center is such an important place to me and the community because it offers such a fun and healthy activity. It is also the only such swimming center of this size in the area. Closing meant there was no place to swim for many area children and adults unless they had a costly gym membership. Which brings us now to the schecduled pool reopening, granting our community low-cost access to what would otherwise be a cost-prohibitive activity.

Swimming comes with a multitude of benefits that many have been missing out on during the closure. Swim lessons save lives; teaching children how to swim from a young age can help prevent drownings. It is also great exercise – swimming provides a full body workout.

There is also something about the sensory experience of the pool you just cannot match. When I plunge underwater the sound goes muffled, and I feel weightless. I can effortlessly glide from one end of the pool to another while looking through the blue-tinted water. It is like I have been transported to another planet, isolated from all my worries.

Swimming in Mt. Hood’s most user-friendly pool is an experience that I and the community have missed since the beginning of the pandemic, and I am excited to plunge back into it, come March.