What will become of our swim team?

The Centenary pool is and has been home to Hackettstown High School’s swim team. It has recently been announced that the Centenary pool will be closing. This is happening due to many reasons. The attendance rates at the pool have increasingly dropped in the past few years and the cost in maintenance and salaries adds up to $15,000 a year. Students at the university have also showed interest in an additional recreational space, which is now planned to stand where the pool currently is. These occurrences have led Centenary to close the pool.

With the pool closing, this places Hackettstown High School’s swim team without a pool for practices and meets. Many team members have showed much concern with this issue. With many online posts, petitions, and emails, the Centenary swim team was able to push the closing of the pool to March 31, 2019, allowing the team one more season at the pool. Since it is closing right after the season, the pool's closure allows the team time to make alternate arrangements for the following seasons. However, the future for the HHS swim team is still uncertain due to the costs of practicing at another pool. As swim team coach Fay Perticari stated, "I have been contacted by some fellow coaches in our league and I think if we had the funds we may be able to come up with a few practices but not enough to be competitive." Although this is upsetting to many, it is uncertain what is yet to come for the HHS swim team.