By Marykate Stepchuk
Many people have heard that we have a pool on the fourth floor, but contrary to popular belief, that is not true. Winter sports are in full swing, including the Henderson swimming and diving team, and many are unaware that Henderson even has a team. Henderson swimming and diving team practices at West Chester Area YMCA every day, either right after school from 3-5 or at night from 7-8:45. They share pool time with the West Chester Area YMCA Marlins, Rustin Knights, and West Chester East Vikings, which can be challenging scheduling-wise. But some people wonder why Henderson does not have a swimming pool, or for that matter, why none of the high schools in the West Chester Area School District have a pool?
It’s a little more complicated than people think.
In the 1970s, many high schools in the Philadelphia suburbs built swimming pools (Ridley, Twin Valley, Lower Merion, etc.). These high schools did not have extra activities offered at the high school swimming pool, except for their high school swim team and gym classes, which they soon realized was insufficient to justify the pool’s expensive upkeep. By the 1990s, many schools could no longer afford to keep these pools, but did not have enough money to remove the swimming pools, and so these pools started to deteriorate. In the early 2000s, many schools began to remove their pools, and very few were able to keep them (Ridley and Lower Merion were two of the high schools that were fortunate enough to do so). Around the same time, our school district built Bayard Rustin High School, and there was discussion of building a swimming pool, but they referred to the disasters of the 1970s. They decided not to make the pool, and the idea of building a swimming pool was completely shut down when extensive renovations of East and Henderson were being done in the early 2000s.
So, the irresponsibility of some districts in the 1970s led to people recognizing that most high schools cannot afford swimming pools in the long-term, which includes West Chester Area School District. Luckily, through cooperation with the local YMCA, Henderson and other local high schools have regular access to a high-quality pool. Even though Henderson’s swimming and diving team doesn’t have its own pool, that should not discourage you from supporting them. They have been undefeated this season, and they go against West Chester East on Friday, February 4th, at 7 pm, which should be a significant meet for them if they plan to defend their Ches-mont Championship title.