INDIANAPOLIS - The Natatorium was recently tabbed as the top 'Must-Visit Site for a Swim Meet in the U.S.' in a listing published by Braden Keith of
SwimSwam.com earlier this week.
Keith writes,The biggest permanent swimming facility in the United States is perhaps home to the bulk of its history in the last 30 years. This pool on the campus of IUPUI is not just A natatorium. It is THE natatorium. All fast racers come to Indy. Since opening to 1982, the pool according to its official website has seen 103 American Records and 15 World Records. It has hosted 13 men’s NCAA Championship meets, 13 women’s NCAA Championship meets, and through an agreement with the NCAA will see several more over the next decade for all divisions. They hosted 8 of the first historic 14 women’s NCAA Championship meets after full inclusion in the 80′s. The history here is just unreal – the pool designed to be a mecca of American swimming has done just that, hosting four Olympic Trials meets out of five between 1984 and 2000.
Others in the top 10 included Student Rec Center (College Station, Texas), Gabrielsen Natatorium (Athens, Ga.), Evanston Township/New Trier High School (Illinois), Avery Aquatics Center (Palo Alto, Calif.), International Swimming Hall of Fame (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), Georgia Tech Aquatics Center (Atlanta, Ga.), University Aquatics Center (Minneapolis, Minn.), CenturyLink Center (Omaha, Neb.) and Lee and Joe Jamail Swim Center (Austin, Texas).
IUPUI, in conjunction with the Indiana Sports Corporation, hosted the 2013 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving National Championships at the Natatorium earlier this spring, with more than 22,000 fans attending the 12 total sessions. The IUPUI women's swimming & diving program boasts the department's only individual national champion as former All-American Chen Ni won the 2010 and 2012 platform championships.
