Southwest High School hosts groundbreaking ceremony for new aquatic center

IMPERIAL VALLEY, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - Southwest High School held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new state-of-the-art aquatic center on Friday.

We share what the facility will be used for and why the district says it will benefit the community.

Sandra Noujaim, a CUHSD Board Member & CIF State Executive Committee Member, says "This aquatic center is going to be a great addition to the community of El Centro but also impact our student-athletes here at Southwest High School."

The school says the Olympic-sized pool will feature shaded stands, a video scoreboard, and the latest race timing plates.

The boys' and girls' swimming teams at Southwest currently have to travel to Central Union High School for practice.

The Captain of the boys' swimming team Sebastian Villa says now it's just a hop skip and jump and away.

"It's a big help just to be able to come from school to the aquatic center literally not even 100 feet," says Villa.

He says not only will the new facility improve the school's athletics, but also its aesthetics.

"A little bit of blue out in the fields, I know a big building with a pool would look really nice and bring a lot of color to our campus," he adds.

The girls' swim team captain Adara Sophia Peña-Ayón says this is something she's been wishing for.

"I remember last year we would go and compete at larger schools with big swimming pools and I'm like wow, I wish we had that, and today my dream is coming true," she says.

The school district says the pool could be used for high school athletics, physical education classes, and community events and activities.

Noujaim says this is a huge win for local high school athletics.

"High school athletics is the greatest intervention for students in any high school situation so anything we can do to benefit that and encourage that I'm definitely all for that," she adds.

The aquatic center was funded through Measure K which passed back in 2016.

Noujaim says the voters are who to thank.

"Thank you to the community of El Centro that passed this bond that built the stem building at Central and now it's time to finish it out and let's get in the water as soon as we can," says Noujaim.

The district says the new aquatic center is set to be complete by the end of next school year.