“Dark.” “Crammed.” “Old yellow-ish lighting.”
That is how club swim president, Jake Van Lanen, a junior in the College of Education, described the former practice location for Marquette club swim.
The team was forced to practice in the basement of Straz Tower amid the construction of the new Wellness + Helfaer Recreation Facility over the course of the last two years.
“We had 10 people in each lane hand-to-foot” Van Lanen said. “It was a lot.”
The team had concerns being in the old rec plex before, practicing with only four lanes available.
With the new rec center in place, Van Lanen noted that members are excited to take advantage of the opportunities it provides.
“The new blocks at the rec center are permanently installed, and just nicer all around,” Morgan Frech, a senior in the College of Health Sciences said.
Van Lanen explains that due to the new and improved equipment, the team can offer a couple of different levels of workouts because there is more room for swimmers.
Pending the return of a sufficient number of swimmers, Van Lanen and the team are prepared to compete at the highest level in the rec center because it allows for more improvement in individual performance levels, allowing for more practice time.
The team is part of College Club Swimming, a division of U.S. Masters swimming which is divided into five regions that span across the country.
With Marquette in the central region, the team travels mainly to universities like Notre Dame, Purdue, and Minnesota.
“I think having the new rec center will make the team more competitive in the sense that we will be able to hold competitions [and] meets,” said Frech.
The team’s first-ever hosted meet was held in the new rec center in the spring 2025 semester, where five other university club teams were able to compete all in one space in which the swimmers really enjoyed.
“It was so fun seeing the new pool filled with fast swimmers and swimmers from all over!” Lily Larson said, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences.
The new rec center will also aid in building more of a community.
“I think that the variety of levels of participation and competitiveness is one of the great things about the club, Frech said.
This also means anyone who can swim in the home meets can participate without extra costs.
The team is also a cornerstone of friendship development.
“I’ve made some of my best friends at Marquette through club swim,” Van Lanen said.
Now, with six lanes available, the team is ready to perform for the upcoming season.
“I’m excited to see what we do with it [the new rec center] this year and beyond,” said Frech.
The team is dual-hosting their first event of the season in the new rec center with University of Wisconsin-Madison on Sept. 27.
This story was written by Ben Ward. He can be reached at benjamin.ward@marquette.edu.