USI unveils new on-campus aquatic center

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - A major athletic facilities project at the University of Southern Indiana has officially come to an end.

USI officials unveiled its new, on-campus aquatic center on Thursday.

The new pool is the final part of the three-phase project, which includes Screaming Eagles Arena and a newly-remodeled, 6,000-foot weight room.

The whole project cost over $60 million to complete. The pool is an eight-lane, 25-yard pool and will serve as the home for the new USI swimming and diving teams that begin competition next fall.

“When we’d bring prospective student-athletes on campus, a lot of times we wouldn’t show them the weight room, we wouldn’t show them the training room, we wouldn’t show them the locker room areas, and now we definitely do,” USI Director of Athletics Jon Mark Hall said. “So, the ability for us to kind of expand our recruiting base, and obviously for us to be able to start our swimming and diving programs next fall in the fall of 2022. It’s a [Great Lakes Valley Conference] sport that we haven’t been able to compete in - haven’t been able to compete for a championship.”

The pool will be available for members of the campus community when the swimming and diving teams are not using it.

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