Greenfield's new pool

Greenfield High School recently opened its new pool, and two meets have already been held there. As the site of the Woodland Conference swim meet this year, as well as the sectional swim meet previously held at Racine Park, I decided to take a look at the pool and snap some pictures.

The Greenfield school district and those associated with this project deserves kudos for doing this right; it's one of the best high school pools in Wisconsin I've seen. Why?

-- The pool space feels big and airy. The pool sits on ground level, with all of the seating above, and an arching ceiling well above the second floor. Those used to swimming in low-ceiling pools that feel cramped will welcome competing here.

-- The eight-lane, 25-yard pool is plenty wide, not like some older pools with narrow lanes. Width usually means a faster pool. It's too early to tell whether the Greenfield pool will rival Waukesha South as the fastest pool in the state, but it certainly won't be a slow one.

-- There is ample deck space for officials, coaches and swimmers to congregate. This is not to be overlooked; pools are expensive to build, and oftentimes one of the first things to go when pool projects get scaled back is deck space. This feels roomy.

-- There are some nice architectural touches, particularly the windows on both the start and turn ends of the pool way up high, beneath the ceiling. Lighting is outstanding, as the lights are turned upward toward the white ceiling and reflect down, adding to the airy feel of the place.

-- The upper-level seating area holds 400. Just as you don't build a church for Easter Sunday, all pools could probably use more space for the once-a-year sectional meets. But it should be fine for most meets, and certainly adequate for sectionals. Right now the concrete seating area is a bit spartan, as benches have yet to be added.

All in all, a terrific addition to the Wisconsin high school pool scene.