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“There was something minor wrong, and when they went in to fix it, they found something major,” assistant principal Jerry Berkson said. “Whatever that [the problem] was, they need to order a part for it and it needs to be made, in China I think.”
“It’s broken,” athletic coach Earl Hansen said. “The shaft in the pump cracked and it’s taken that long to get it fixed.”
The maintenance department has been working on getting the pool fixed, according to Berkson, who says that their department contacts the professional pool people to fix the issue.
The projections for when the pump will be ready are uncertain. “Hopefully it will be ready Monday, maybe Saturday,” Hansen said. After the pool is fixed, a few more days will be needed for non-pump related restoration to prepare the pool for the athletes. “Even after it’s fixed, reheating will take an extra day and restoring the chemicals sets you back a little bit,” Berkson said.
The teams have relocated during the interval to various close-by locations. “We had to practice at Woodside Priory for the first day and we have been over at Stanford for the past two weeks,” senior water polo attacker Haley Conner said. “And I know that the boys’ team has been practicing at [Henry M.] Gunn, with the worst hours possible.”
The affect on the Paly water polo teams has been even greater considering the timing in their season. “We have had water polo hell week for the past week, and not being able to practice in our own pool has been a huge disappointment,” Conner said. “Not having our pool has been a disadvantage because many of the team bonding activities that we typically do during hell week had to be canceled.”
“It’s inconvenient having to rush to Stanford to practice instead of just heading to the Paly pool after class,” junior attacker Skylar Dorosin said. “The Stanford pools are really nice though, we were lucky to get pool time there on such short notice.”
Both Berkson and Hansen are sympathetic to the situation for the athletes. “It’s terrible for the athletes, but it’s got to be fixed.” Hansen said. “One of the inconveniences is it being the first week of school; that doesn’t help,” Berkson said. The assistant principal has had few comments over the issue, however. “There have been no major complaints,” Berkson said.
Overall, players are just glad of the work being done and anxious to return. “I think I can speak for both the girls and boys team by saying how much we appreciate all of the work and help that has gone into fixing the pool,” Conner said. “We can’t wait to get back to our P-HOUSE and get pumped up for this up coming polo season.” Soon players can look forward to practicing in their home pool again.