A new aquatic facility, in affiliation with the Aquatic Management and Education Association (AMEA) and the Quantico Devil Dolphins (QDD) Swim Team, is on schedule to open to the public by the end of September.
The facility will be called Central Park Aquatic Center since it is located at 10371 Central Park Drive in Manassas.
Director of Development and Marketing Peter Benner said private investors built the center to meet a community need.
“We don’t see ourselves in competition, but as helping the community by meeting the growing demand for swim lanes," Benner said.
The 25,000 square foot state-of-the-art pool facility features a cool-water competitive pool with eight 25-yard lanes, 6.5-7 feet in depth, designed and installed by the Paddock Swimming Pool Co. of Rockville, Md. Adjacent to that pool, Paddock also installed a smaller warm-water pool 3.5-4 feet in depth. Benner said the leisure pool was designed to be as “dynamic” as possible and to be used for a variety of purposes.
According to Benner, Central Park Aquatic Center intends to host various swim teams for practices and meets, while providing community classes and programs. He said the owners were able to make informed decisions about the facility since they each have spent 20-30 years of their lives in and around competitive swimming.
Chief Executive Officer Rick Benner has spent 30 years as an Olympic team coach, while Chief Operation Officer Chris Cook is a swim parent who has served on the board of directors for a not-for-profit swim team for 12 years. Peter, who is Rick’s son, has been a competitive swimmer for 18 years and has earned a varsity swim title four times over at the University of Georgia.
Peter Benner believes the owners' combined expertise will allow Central Park to distinguish itself as an aquatic facility designed with the competitive swimmer in mind.
For that reason, Benner and Cook decided to operate an aquatic center and not a swim club. Rather than selling memberships, they rent swim time to teams. Benner said they decided upon this model to ensure the facility does not become overcrowded during meets.
Another way in which Central Park aims to differentiate itself is by eliminating the pungent chemical smell common in indoor aquatic facilities. They apply Ultra Violet (UV) lights to purify their pool water which allows them to use just one-fifth the chlorine they would otherwise have to add.
Additionally, a Paddock evacuator removes chemicals from the water's surface before they evaporate into noxious gases. It makes the air better for swimmers and individuals with asthma.
“No pools in the area have an evacuator. We’re one of the first pools in the country,” said Benner. “Between UV, HVAC and the evacuator, that’s a trifecta, and swimmers will get more oxygen."
From the pool’s depth to a wave reduction system, he believes the owners have considered nearly every detail of the competitive swimming experience. Moreover, he explained that purer air quality also prevents corrosion of the facility, saving thousands, perhaps millions, of dollars in future renovations.
QDD has also installed state-of-the-art starting blocks that are used in Olympic, NCAA and USA Swim Meet competitions. He doubts existing facilities will upgrade to new blocks “because blocks are so expensive, they’re really hard [to replace.]”
QDD also installed Colorado Timing Systems that produce stat-sheets and a video recording of the races, helping to eliminate human errors, thus timing races more precisely.
“We built this facility to host really fast swim meets,” Benner said.
While the owners hope to attract all kinds of competitive swim teams, they will also host noncompetitive programs.
During school hours, the warm pool will host water aerobics, physical therapy classes and swim lessons for young children. In the competition pool, they will hold master swimming classes for adults.
They also are planning after-school programs that include swim time, homework, tutoring and play or media time.
Swim teams renting time from the facility can also schedule time in the weight room with equipment especially designed for the needs of swimmers. For swim parents, there is an Internet café with a glass wall for viewing and a swim store. During meets, spectators can watch from fold-out bleachers, the café or the second floor mezzanine.
Additional office spaces will be converted to changing rooms, administrative offices, an employee lounge, tutoring classrooms, a stats room and a multi-purpose meeting room. They may even rent out one room to hold yoga classes.
The entire cost for the Central Park Aquatic Center is $6 million, while the cost for the aquatic center planned at the newest Prince William County high school is estimated at $10.5 million.
Teams interested in scheduling practices or meets should contact QDDswim.org. Individuals who want to register for programs can contact AMEAmanassas.com.
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