History will be made this weekend as the No. 24 men’s swimming and diving team wraps up its home season with the final races ever at Mike Peppe Aquatic Center. The Buckeyes will compete in back-to-back dual meets, hosting Michigan State today and the University of Michigan tomorrow.
The Buckeyes come off a week break but still clocked in plenty of practice hours in the pool.
“We worked them very hard,” coach Bill Wadley said. “The first couple days we worked them hard, but they weren’t the best practices.”
The men will now have a few easy days to get them ready for the meets, Wadley said.
As the Buckeyes prepare for the upcoming meets, Wadley said cannot help but think of the historical aspect of these meets.
“It’s really an emotional moment for me,” he said.
He said the Mike Peppe Aquatic Center holds a rich history in swimming and diving. All those moments of alumni plus his own positive emotional moments will always be remembered, Wadley said.
“There are six seniors swimming at their final home meet, plus, other teams will never compete in this pool ever again,” Wadley said.
This is a historical moment the swimmers and divers will tell their grandchildren about and the team wants this final meet to be memorable, Wadley said.
One thing Wadley said he will miss about the pool is the spectator stands.
“The fans are right on top of you,” he said. “It’s an energizing, powerful environment.”
While the swimmers and divers reflect upon their athletic careers in the Peppe Aquatic Center, the facility itself has a rich history.
The Mike Peppe Aquatic Center opened during the 1931-32 season. The pool was recognized as the first deep-water pool in America with a seven-foot shallow end and a 12-foot diving end. During its 72 years of existence, OSU has won 11 NCAA team championships, 12 Big Ten Championships, had 117 individual champions, 178 All-Americans and 42 Olympians.
The Aquatic Center was named after legendary swimming and diving coach, Mike Peppe. Peppe coached the team from 1931-63 and led the team to all 11 of OSU’s team titles.
OSU swimming alumnus Bob Bartels was an All-American in the breaststroke, an assistant coach under Peppe and head coach after Peppe retired in 1963.
“I swam here in 1949, ’50, and ’51,” Bartels said. “We were NCAA champs twice and Big Ten champs all three years. We had national champions in most every event.” The NCAA team titles were won 1949-50, while the Big Ten titles were from 1949-51.
Bartels said memories of swimming under coach Peppe and competing at OSU still remain close at heart.
“I’m from Fargo, N.D. and I came here to swim for Mike Peppe,” Bartels said.
“What I got out of the swimming program I wouldn’t change for anything,” he said. “We had a wonderful time in college and we’re still in close touch with each other.”
In 1997, Bartels and some of his former teammates traveled to Hawaii because they had a lot of Hawaiian teammates. They also swim a reunion every two or three years, Bartels said.
Olympic gold-medalist and OSU alumnus Yoshi Oyakawa also has some fond memories of the Peppe pool and the OSU swimming and diving program.
“Ohio State has always been a big part of my life,” Oyakawa said. “I’m very proud to have swum there and kind of lucky to be there in times when we were pretty dominant.”
Oyakawa’s most memorable meet at Peppe pool took place against none other than that team up north.
“We had a dual meet against (the University of Michigan), and of course they were kind of favored,” he said. “One of our top swimmers was sick. We didn’t think we’d win the meet, but we did.”
Oyakawa started the medley relay with the backstroke.
“I just blasted it and set a world record,” he said. Oyakawa beat the UM swimmer by about two seconds, which is about six or seven feet.
“It was something that I don’t think I’ve ever been so psyched up for,” he said.
In 1952, nine OSU swimmers made the Olympic team, including Oyakawa. The Olympics were held in Helsinki, Finland, where Oyakawa swam the 100-meter backstroke.
“It was great,” Oyakawa said. “I won the gold medal, then my teammate Jack Taylor, he got third.”
Oyakawa swam in “The Last Dip” in Mike Peppe Pool, the alumni meet held in October to bring swimming and diving alumni back to campus. Oyakawa said he had a great time.
“We’re kind of pushing to get Bill Wadley to have the same type of thing, except it’ll be the first dip in the new pool, so we’re hoping he organized something in that line,” Oyakawa said.
The new aquatic facility will be home to Buckeye swimming and diving. The facility will feature a recreational pool, class instructional pool, leisure pool, whirlpool spa, two saunas, and the Bill And Mae McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.
“We are looking at having it open sometime late spring quarter,” said Diane Jensen, associate director in the Department of Recreational Sports.
When the new facility opens its doors, there will be many differences between the current Peppe facility and the new aquatic facility.
The current facility has five pools. The new facility will also have five pools, but each pool will be a little larger, Jensen said.
“We wanted to make sure we had lots of lanes,” said Miechelle Willis, associate director of Athletics.
The competitive pool will have 10 lanes compared to the current eight lanes in the Peppe pool. The depth of the pool will also be increased to allow for faster times in the pool. The depth will range from seven- to 10-feet, Jensen said. At least 25-yards of the competitive pool will be 10-feet deep, Willis said.
On the diving end of the spectrum, there will be five different dive boards ranging from 10-meters to 1-meter platforms in the diving well area of the facility.
There will be permanent springboards in the diving well of the pool as well as anchors for temporary springboards around the pool to allow for more diving boards to be set up at one time. This will result in potential diving camps and more room for training, Willis said.
The divers will also have a whirlpool spa near the diving tower where divers can rest between dives, Jensen said.
Seating will remain on both sides of the pool and the seating capacity will be about the same, Willis said. However, there will be larger decks around the pool for the competing athletes. There will be a 20-foot deck on one side and a 19-foot deck on the other, she said.
One of the main structural features the athletics department wanted to emphasize was the lighting in the new facility.
The Peppe facility has dim lighting, and the department wanted to ensure the new facility will have as much light in the pool as possible, Willis said.
The slanted roof will include glass allowing natural sunlight into the building.
Coach Wadley and Willis hope the new facility with its advanced features will bring many swimming and diving events to OSU.
“We will now be eligible to host the Big Ten Championships,” Willis said.
Hopefully down the line, NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, U.S. National Championships for synchronized swimming, Pan-American Games for diving, and High School State Swimming and Diving Championship will all be held here at OSU, she said.
“All these new meets (will) start coming to Columbus,” Wadley said. “It’s a special moment to have your big meet in your pool.”
Wadley also hopes the new facility will help with recruiting. Many young swimmers and divers could potentially compete in the new pool, build fond memories of their experiences, and come back to compete at the collegiate level at OSU based on their former experiences in this pool, he said.
