In addition to a vast sea of courses and degrees to shoot for, Sinclair offers many luxuries to its students and staff. From a mini art museum in Building 13, to the Tartan Marketplace, Sinclair Community College bends over backwards to assure that students are comfortable and capable to complete their courses.
However, one that few, if any students know about, is the actual Sinclair swimming pool in the physical activity center of Building 8.
This 25 yard, six-lane swimming pool was installed when Building 8 was built back in 1974. Just to put this into perspective, it took a million dollars to construct each of the buildings one through seven. They were in fact the first buildings built down on the Dayton campus. Building 8 however, due to its specialty areas, which once included a bowling alley until 1999, cost up to seven million dollars to build.
The pool is used to host any athletic team within the Ohio, Michigan and Indiana region approved by the National Junior College Athletic Association. Many swim teams have journeyed to Sinclair to hone their aquatic craft such as the Kettering swim team and our own Dayton Raiders. Sinclair has also hosted many high school teams such as Waynesville High School.
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Aside from organized swim meets, Sinclair’s pool finds uses in more unconventional ways. Sinclair offers swimming classes which are non-credit courses and cost $25.
For students desiring to pursue a more adventurous career, Sinclair hosts scuba diving classes. This class requires multiple certification and skills tests beforehand, yet the price for this course is cheaper than most other private lessons.
Outside of swimming, many other departments use the pool in various ways, including engineering students. Sinclair once hosted an engineering class of Stebbins High School where the students constructed boats from corrugated plastic and duct tape and raced them across the surface. Aviation classes have also hosted water survival lessons for students pursuing a career in the sky.
These courses and many others demonstrate the usefulness of a pool for students of all fields. But what about those who simply desire a pleasant afternoon dip? The pool is open to the general public from 1-4 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays and from 1-2 p.m. along with 3-5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
To top it all off, Sinclair will be hosting a luau this coming April of 2020. So whether you’re a student or a simple campus goer, what better way to enjoy some free time than by grabbing a towel and taking the plunge?
Samuel J. Claude
Managing Editor