Swimming opportunities for students and local community coming to the newly renovated Bowie State aquatic center

By Mike Rauck

An open house was held Saturday at the newly renovated Bowie State University Aquatic Center to give students, alumni, and members of the local community a chance to tour the facility and ask questions about upcoming swim programs.   The pool has been shuttered for most of the last twenty-two years.  Swim programs are expected to start in March.

“I’m very excited for our campus and for our students and our alumni and friends of the university to have access to our pool once again,” Bowie State University President Dr. Aminta Breaux shared Saturday from a pool-side podium.  “We are continuing to change and evolve to meet the needs of our students.”

Among the intended uses for the university’s eight-lane lap pool are recreational swimming opportunities for students and alumni, swim lessons, water aerobics, rehabilitation for student athletes, and swim certification programs for the school’s ROTC students.

Bowie State currently rents pool time from the Sport Fit health club for its ROTC program.

According to Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreation Clyde Doughty, Jr., the pool will also be available to organizations and nearby residents who aren’t affiliated with the university to help offset costs and to showcase the campus and facilities to the public.  Doughty expects swim teams to rent lanes and host swim meets, and an annual membership program will be available to individuals for recreation and lap swimming.

Details about the membership program are still being planned, but the school expects a yearly charge of around $175.

A scuba training group and a swim team have already inquired about renting pool time.

BSU President Dr. Aminta Breaux

Long before the Sports & Learning Complex in Landover and the Fairland Aquatic Center in Laurel opened, the Bowie State University Aquatic Center was an important resource for the local swim community.  The Bowie High School Swim Team hosted meets at the university, and the Prince George’s County high school championship meet was held at the pool each year.  The BSU pool was also home to the Bowie Bulldogs, a local club team that was not affiliated with the university or Bowie High School.

To implement the new swim program, Bowie State hired local pool management veteran Mark Wascavage to be the school’s new Aquatics Coordinator.  Wascavage recently retired from Prince George’s County Public Schools after teaching at Duval High School for forty-five years, and he has more than forty years of experience managing pools, including more than twenty years managing the Belair Bath & Tennis pool in Bowie.

Wascavage graduated from Bowie State University with a master’s degree.

Doughty is working on plans to bring club sports and other recreation opportunities to BSU students, including club swimming.  Reponses to a recent student survey indicate a high interest in soccer and lacrosse.
“We also need facilities to accommodate and support those interests,” Dr. Breaux stated, and she mentioned recent lobbying efforts to acquire land to support the club sports initiatives.

Dr. Aminta Breaux. writes, "We are Bowie Bold!"

Dr. Breaux addressed lawmakers in Annapolis in January about the need for land that was once part of the former Bowie Race Course.  Although the racetrack property isn’t adjacent to the university, it’s only one mile away.

City of Bowie officials are lobbying to have the racetrack property gifted to the city for open space and recreational purposes.

According to Dr. Breaux, the aquatic center renovation is a milestone that fits neatly into the theme and title of the school’s current strategic plan, Racing to Excellence.  She also touted the nearly complete 400-space parking lot with a new solar canopy as well as plans for a new residence hall and entrepreneurship center that is expected to open by July 2022.

At the conclusion of a question and answer session at Saturday’s open house, Dr. Breaux enthusiastically wrote on the aquatic center chalkboard, “We are Bowie Bold!”