A number of outdoor aquatics programs are thinking outside the box in an effort to bring students to the water. There is more to do at the modern college pool than lap swimming and old-school water aerobics classes. Some college aquatics departments offer waterfront recreation, outdoor leisure pools and simulated outdoor environments. Here’s a look at what stand-out aquatics programming can look like, particularly in nontraditional aquatics facilities.

Sun and Sand at FGCU

“We always try to find something new and different for our students, and really capitalize on the things that they like,” says Emma Reeners, assistant director of aquatics at Florida Gulf Coast University. Unique to FGCU is their waterfront programming. With more than 50 yards of beachfront and 200 yards of school-specific waters, students have a lot of options. They can rent paddle boards and kayaks or just enjoy the beach. FGCU also hosts “Inflatable Fridays” at the waterfront, where students can climb an inflatable rock wall and play on other inflatable toys in the water. 

But the fun doesn’t stop there. 

“One of our biggest selling points is the motorsports,” Reeners says. “We have a motorized boat, and it runs three days a week. Lifeguards and student staff run that boat and program. They help the students sign in, sign waivers and then take them out on the water.”

The boat can support wakeboarding, wave surfing, knee boarding, tubing and basically anything that involves being pulled behind a boat. If there’s a spot in the schedule where the boat hasn’t been reserved, student-staff will take waterfront swimmers and tanners out for a quick ride. 

Unique events are a trend in recreational, collegiate aquatics that can tie all four of these featured programs together. At FGCU, Reeners organizes “Pumpkins and Paddles,” a Halloween event on the waterfront where students can paint pumpkins and float while enjoying a spooky outdoor movie. “We set up tables, chairs and get out string lights. We make it real vibey for fall even though Florida doesn’t really get a fall,” Reeners says.

Reeners and her team also host a canoe battleship event in the fall. “We do it as a way for new students to find and meet each other. They come in and make their teams, and we get to show them the aquatics center, which most freshmen might not find right away, because it is on the other side of campus,” she says. 

Like the waterfront, all pools at FGCU are outdoor facilities. Reeners notes that this makes scheduling weather-dependent and sometimes difficult. “We find another date or we come up with another plan,” says Reeners, explaining the split-second planning that her team sometimes does to create contingency plans.

BOGA boards and battleboats

At Texas Tech University, assistant director of aquatics and risk management Jenna Gore organizes an event called “UREC Spectacular.” 

“It’s a Welcome Week event for the whole rec center, but specifically at the leisure pool, we will host a dive-in movie,” Gore says. “We’ll hand out food and stay open late — until midnight or 1 a.m. — watching a movie on a huge inflatable screen.”

The leisure pool where Gore hosts the event is a focal point for Texas Tech aquatics. There’s a lazy river, a splash pad, a slide into a deep well and plenty of spaces for relaxing on deck. Not only is it a popular spot for students to come unwind or study – with WiFi access – but it also serves as one of the only outdoor pool options in Lubbock. 

“The city of Lubbock does not have any public pools,” says Gore. “So, we are the number-one swim lesson hub in Lubbock. We try to service as much of the community as we can, as well as offering adult swim lessons to our Texas Tech students.” 

The in-water classes aren’t limited to basic swim lessons, either. Gore was very excited to introduce paddle board yoga to the list of class offerings at the outdoor pool. 

“We brainstormed, and given my background in Arizona, paddle boarding was really big there. So we thought, ‘Okay, what about this?’ We found BOGA Boards, and it was cost-effective and something we could get going pretty quickly. Once we ordered the boards, we built the curriculum and the whole process took about 10 weeks.”  

The boards, Gore explains, are specifically made to work with the pool’s lane lines. “Our setup time is down to 15 to 20 minutes. We get the lane lines in, hook the boards in and then watch the students get on the boards.” 

Beyond the fun and challenging paddle board yoga classes, Gore and her team also offer students an inflatable obstacle course, similar to the setup at FGCU. The aquatics department hosts a Halloween event involving the inflatable obstacle course called, “Wicked Wipeout.” Given the success of the larger events like “Wicked Wipeout,” the team at Texas Tech has also been experimenting with what Gore calls “Flash Events.” 

“We’ll do battleship, where we work with the Outdoor Pursuits Department, and get those canoes outside,” Gore says. “The students try to sink each other’s boats. We’ve also hosted water volleyball tournaments and even a diving board competition. We try to be as inclusive as we can for fun sports.” 

In the spirit of inclusivity, Gore explains that rec sports and aquatics have a slogan, “For every body.” Gore says, “It’s not just for your traditional people who come to work out. We try to be as diverse and inclusive for whatever it is that they enjoy.”

Shaping pools and community

The University of Colorado – Boulder has an outdoor pool of its own that offers unique programming and events, not to mention the pool is in the shape of a buffalo.

“At a design meeting with students, architects, ownership and rec center staff, one of the students on the rec board asked if we could build it in a shape,” explains Barbara Bogner, assistant director of aquatics, “And everybody said, ‘Well, what kind of shape?’ And he said, ‘Well, what about a buffalo shape?’ It’s an incredible focal point when you’re walking through campus to not only see an outdoor pool, but realize it’s shaped like a buffalo.” 

At “Buff Pool and Patio” the buffalo-shaped pool is home to lap swimming lanes, a jacuzzi and a shallow-water leisure space. As far as programming goes, CU — much like Texas Tech — offers a popular paddle board yoga class. The team at Boulder has also hosted dive-in movie nights similar to FGCU and Texas Tech, but this fall the Buffalos are taking media on the pool deck one step further. 

“A watch party for football games,” Bogner reveals, is her top priority for events and programming in the fall semester. “Using our proximity to the football games and the fact that not all students can get student tickets, just giving them an alternative to be a part of it and build a community to be together. And hopefully, win more than four games this year.” 

Bogner did a beta test of the watch parties with the 2024 Olympic Games, streaming various events on the mounted TVs at the pool. She focused on swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water polo for any students and pool-goers who were still on campus during the summer months. 

“We have to be conscientious of the electricity we’re pulling on the deck,” says Bogner when talking about the challenges of this particular kind of programming.

Not only is the pool an iconic spot for students to relax and exercise, the outdoor pool also serves a logistical purpose for CU. “When we moved the ice rink, we needed cooling towers to take the heat away to keep the ice rink frozen. The school wanted to go away from using literal cooling towers, so our heat sink is the outdoor pool,” Bogner explains. “The heat from the ice rink will go out, it heats the outdoor pool and then any leftover heat goes to the indoor competition pool.” 

Bogner admits, however, that at the peak of summer and early in the fall semester, the outdoor pool stays pretty temperate on its own. She sets the temperature at 52, and the sun does the rest of the work to keep the “Buff Pool” at a comfortable 79 degrees.

A taste of the tropics indoors

At another facility, a heated pool is essential to stay in use all year round. The University of Missouri brings the outdoors inside with its Tiger Grotto. The massive indoor space, with its vaulted ceiling and walls of windows, features palm trees and other jungle plants to give the northern school a tropical feeling. The facility also includes a zero-depth entry pool, a waterfall, a hot tub and steam room — all decorated with faux rock and timber. 

“Tiger Grotto was a part of our big expansion and renovation project that was completed in 2005,” says Laura Salerno, associate director of facility operations. “We recently updated our AV in the space to create more opportunities for programming, like dive-in movies and other community events,” 

Salerno has been with Mizzou for more than 20 years, working in various departments and offices. Thanks to this experience, she is uniquely positioned to create partnerships between aquatics and other departments. 

“Launching this fall, we have a new partnership with ‘Diventures’ to host scuba instruction. It will create growth and learning opportunities for students and foster a community for students with like-minded interests,” Salerno says. 

In this new program, students will have a mix of classroom learning and in-water exercises in the Mizzou Aquatic Center’s 50-meter pool to get them started on their scuba certifications. There’s exciting programming going on above water, too, as Mizzou joins the other schools offering paddle board yoga classes. 

“That is a collaboration between aquatics and our fitness staff to bring those yoga opportunities to the water. They are highly popular, almost every class that we have sells out. It is a highly sought-after class, for sure,” says Salerno, who’s limited only by space and equipment. “We want to create opportunities for students, so we’re excited to see what additional programming we can bring to the aquatics center that can attract students who may not have thought about doing an activity in the water before, like the paddle board yoga.” 

When it comes to getting the word out to students about Mizzou’s programming and event offerings, Salerno says that a combination of social media marketing, word of mouth and the school’s mobile app are all needed to keep students informed about what is going on at the pool. 

App-based communication is another offering that ties all of these facilities together. Each pool relies on the school’s app to send push notifications for class registrations, announcements about pool closures and reminders for big events. This merging of aquatic rec and tech is bringing more students to the pool. 

“We’ve got to stay relevant,” Colorado’s Bogner says. “It’s not just a box that has a body of water in it. There’s so much more we can do than that to keep growing and being innovative. That’s the beauty of it.” 

Courtesy of Athletic Business
By Aurdrey Lee