UH Campus Recreation Achieves Milestone by Hosting Three Major Swim & Dive Championships in One Month

DSA News
May 06, 2025

Nearly 2,000 visitors from all over the country gathered at the UH Campus Recreation natatorium this past month for the collegiate swim & dive competition on March 17, 2025. In a span of three weeks, UH Campus Recreation hosted the swim & dive championships for three athletic conferences: the Big West Conference (BWC), the Mountain West Conference (MWC) and the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).

“The number of people that were here was a bit overwhelming, "said Head Lifeguard Kopeland Jones.

The Campus Recreation and Wellness Center natatorium is well-versed in hosting swim meets, often managing multiple events in quick succession. However, preparing for athletic conference competitions requires significantly more planning and setup.

“We can set up a standard swim meet in about an hour and a half,” said Jones. “But a conference meet takes around five hours because it’s televised, and conferences want their branding featured prominently throughout the venue. We have to bring in the maximum number of bleachers, ensure the pool meets precise specifications, and eliminate any room for error. Essentially, we have to transform our facility to look and feel like it belongs to the conference.”

Physically modifying the pool setup is a routine—though labor-intensive—task for the aquatics program, and Jones describes it as simply tedious manual work. However, the real challenge came from the influx of unfamiliar faces in the facility.

“The visiting teams are often unaware of our policies,” Jones explained. “One major issue is swimmers leaving their gear on deck overnight, but we need to completely clear the area so custodians can properly clean the floors.”

And it’s not just the athletes. Family members—some visiting Texas for the first time—have accidentally triggered alarms by opening emergency exit doors. With an event as large as these championships, it required more than just the aquatics staff to keep everything running smoothly.

“It was hectic… even though people mean well it was a burden to have to keep enforcing rules,” UH Recreation Building Supervisor Zelie Morrow said. “Our staff was doing overtime and did the best they could. Even though it wasn’t ideal, we still had lots of fun!”

 

- Written by Vi Tran - Marketing Program Manager – Campus Recreation – Student Affairs.