Grossmont College’s aquatics team has been on the road doing swim meets since 2021. Now, four years later, the pool is drained and owned by the city of San Diego.

The closure of the pool has taken a toll on the athletes of the swim and water polo teams. 

Some were never notified the swimming pool on campus was closed when they graduated from high school and still decided to continue their swimming career at Grossmont.

Athletes have made it a mission to meet up for practice off campus.

“We have to meet at the school at 6 a.m. so we can carpool for a 9 a.m. swim meet,” second-year student, Vaughan Clark said. “If we had our pool working and not condemned, we would’ve met up at 8 a.m. to warm up and do our drills.”

The swim team’s schedule is from February to May, and all of their meets are located at other community colleges such as Palomar and Southwestern. 

Team practices have been relocated to the Joan Kroc Center, which has made it difficult for players to be on time.

“Some of our swimmers have a hard time trying to get here since they have classes at Grossmont and have to drive over here to make it on time for practice,” Aquatics Coach Larry Larsen said.

Grossmont hasn’t given any updates on when the pool will be repaired, Larsen said. 

The swimming team will have to be on the road again for another season and wish to have a strong following from their friends and family. 

Despite all the success the teams have accomplished over the years, including clinching first place in men’s water polo at the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference last fall, they are unaware of when they will have a proper home back on campus and once again have a strong home advantage.