SMU's new aquatic center opens Friday

DALLAS - The SMU swim and dive teams will get to jump into their brand new Olympic-sized indoor pool for the first time Friday.

SMU swimmers have qualified for more than 100 Olympic appearances and brought home eight gold medals, eight silver medals and four bronze medals. The university hopes to continue to produce champion swimmers and divers at its state-of-the-art new facility.

It includes an eight-lane Olympic-sized pool and a diving platform with a 10-meter tower and four springboards. The pool has an underwater video camera system that can be used to analyze a swimmer’s performance. That video can then be played on three large high-definition video boards or routed for a courtroom or more detailed study by coaches and swimmers.

The $22 million aquatic center was made possible through a number of generous donations including from the Robeson and Linley families. That is why it is named after them.

SMU will dedicate the facility at 4:30 p.m. Afterward it will host a swim meet against LSU.