ONE MUGGY MESS
BERWICK — Any team would love to finish the regular season with a stretch of home contests.
But for Berwick swimming, their home pool leaves something to be desired.
With a broken part in the middle school pool's ventilation system, the team has been practicing in extremely humid conditions to the point they've postponed a couple of meets and canceled another.
"It's not an unsafe condition. It's truly more the walls than anything," Berwick swimming coach Stacy Banyas said. "It makes it harder as a coach to run a harder practice because they're not used to breathing in such warm air. All pools are typically warm, but this is definitely different this season."
Banyas also says the deck is extra wet from the humidity.
The warm, muggy conditions don't impact other parts of the school -- not even the team's locker rooms right beside the pool. It has, however, began to destroy some of the team's technology.
"With humidity, it does start to kill computers and does start to wear and tear things such as my timing system," Banyas said. "I've had to order a new part this year. My timing system, the computer screen, the moisture and mold are under the screen and under two different boxes. It definitely takes a toll on the equipment."
Banyas credits the school district with trying to find solutions since she brought it to their attention in September. The district immediately ordered the part, but only recently received it since it's not readily available, comparing it to car vehicle parts following the COVID pandemic. Banyas says they may have to order another part because "not many pools have the same parts we need."
She also isn't fretting over the technology needs, knowing the district is listening to her needs there, too.
"The district's been working with us every day and trying to get us up and running," she said. "Just like a pool in the backyard, they're expensive upkeep and you have put the time and money in. I just hope we continue to put the time and money into the facility because people are shutting pools down all around. Having the local pool is great for the community.
"... They've also been good in keeping up with the technology here. We received two new touchpads. Technology has been good. We did have a new system put in a few years ago. There's only so much that can be updated for swimming."
With the pool's ventilation system down, the Bulldogs have had to postpone a meet with Dallas three times, another meet with Wilkes-Barre and cancel one altogether with Lake-Lehman. Berwick finishes the year with three consecutive home meets and four of five.
With the intense humidity making conditions less than ideal for swimmers and spectators alike, Berwick came up with a plan that is reminiscent of immediate post-COVID. Only parents of senior swimmers are permitted into the pool while the district streams the meet online for others to watch.
It's less than ideal for Banyas as well, but she finds it better than nothing. She is hopeful things improve for a team that is taking matters day-by-day.
"We ran with it that way because it was a smaller team. Our [athletic director Bo Orlando] called their AD, we only allowed senior parents and we streamed," Banyas said. "... We're hoping the outside company that is coming in to look at the units comes in sooner than later and tell us whether it needs more work or that it can be fixed quickly. I'm hopeful we can get more parents in and run the live stream."
The team never did look into other options in the preseason, with Banyas noting the Berwick YMCA is more of a therapeutic pool and doesn't have enough lanes for competition. They never looked into sharing a pool with nearby school districts either because they thought the issue would be resolved by the start of the season.
Swimmers and spectators may be sweating upon arrival, but Banyas isn't about to do so over the rough-go of things. Instead, she chooses to dive head-first into how she can help find a long-term solution for the Bulldogs.
Link to story: https://www.pressenterpriseonl...
