Koury Natatorium

Koury Natatorium has gained a reputation as one of the finest pools in the nation and one of the best on the East Coast.

Swimmers and divers at the University of North Carolina enjoy one tremendous advantage in achieving excellence in their chosen sport. The facility the University has built for the sport on the Carolina campus is one of the best structures in the Atlantic Coast Conference and amongst the top 10 competition pools in the United States, ranking among the elite facilities in Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Austin, Atlanta and Los Angeles.

After 48 seasons of intercollegiate swimming and diving competition in historic Bowman Gray Pool, the Tar Heel men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams moved into their new digs in October 1986 with the opening of the Maurice J. Koury Natatorium as part of the Dean E. Smith Center complex at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Koury Natatorium has gained a reputation as one of the finest pools in the nation and one of the best on the East Coast. Several top-flight competitions have already been staged here, with the showcase event having been United States Swimming’s Senior Short Course National Championships held from March 21-25, 1989.

Koury Natatorium served as the host of the U.S. Master’s Swimming Short Course National Championships in May of 1992. That meet drew thousands of master’s level swimmers from all over the nation to beautiful Chapel Hill.

Koury Natatorium has also hosted several Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships. Those meets were held at Koury Natatorium in 1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997 and 2000.

Other top meets held at Koury Natatorium include the 1988 and 1991 NCAA Southeast Regional Diving Championships, North Carolina High School Athletic Association men’s and women’s championship meets on an annual basis and a trio of North Carolina-Virginia all-star meets. U.S. Swimming also held its annual elite training camp here shortly after the pool’s opening from December 27, 1986 to January 3, 1987. Another major highlight in Koury’s brief history was the swimming and water polo competition at U.S. Olympic Festival-’87, an event which was probably the most successful U.S. Olympic Festival ever staged by the U.S. Olympic Committee. Swimming competition in July 1987 played to overflow crowds all three nights and the water polo competition also set Festival attendance standards for that sport. The crowds for swimming were so large that temporary bleachers had to be set up on the pool deck to accommodate all the spectators.

The natatorium was officially dedicated in ceremonies on October 2, 1987, a gala affair which drew a capacity crowd of UNC athletic partisans, swimming enthusiasts and statewide dignitaries, including North Carolina’s Lieutenant Governor, Robert Jordan, who gave the official address dedicating the facility.

However, the first actual competition in the facility took place almost a year before the Dedication Day on October 31, 1986 when UNC hosted the Tar Heel Invitational. The first dual meet competition was on November 10, 1986 when UNC’s women defeated N.C. State, 171-96.

The pool itself measures 50 meters in length by 25 yards in width. There are two moveable bulkheads which can configure the dimensions of the pool in many ways. At its most shallow point, the pool measures seven feet in depth, and the pool is 18 feet at its deepest point. The pool also features continuous flow gutters and has one of the most advanced lighting systems of any swimming facility in the world. The gallery area provides seating for approximately 2,000 fans.

The acoustical system at the natatorium is spectacular. The gallery area is served by six speakers and six more serve the pool deck, which underwent an elaborate tiling project immediately after the Olympic Festival in 1987. In excess of 2,300 individual acoustical tiles were installed in the ceiling.

The pool, which features underwater speakers and observation booths, holds one million gallons of water, quadrupling the water capacity of Bowman Gray Pool, which held about 250,000 gallons. There are no water jets in the pool, eliminating the problems caused by water currents. The natatorium also features a blower system and sliding windows for better ventilation during the summer.

Each Carolina team has a locker room which affords two lockers for each team member. A team meeting room with a 75-person capacity adjoins the deck and is named for former UNC swimming coach Ralph Casey, who passed away in 1986. There is also a separate locker room for the UNC coaches and locker room facilities for visiting teams, recreational swimming and officials.

The locker rooms and meeting room are located directly across the hall from the athletic training room of the Smith Center, which is under the direction of Marc Davis, who serves as the head trainer for the UNC swimming program.

The natatorium also contains outstanding facilities for diving with five-meter platform facilities have been added during the summer of 2001 to the already existing two one-meter boards and two three-meter boards and a separate scoreboard and message board for diving and high chairs used by judges in major meets.

There is a second scoreboard and message board on the swimming end of the facility. Colorado Timing is responsible for the natatorium’s elaborate scoring and timing system. The system is named for the late Dick Jamerson, founder of the UNC swimming program in 1939 and its first head coach. The system was dedicated December 2, 1986 at a dual meet against Duke University with Coach Jamerson’s widow, the lovely Anna Jamerson, in attendance for the ceremonies.

Also located on the deck level adjacent to the pool are the swimming offices, with a reception area and a managers’ workroom and separate offices for all the Tar Heel coaches,

The offices of the North Carolina Aquatic Club are also located on the Koury pool deck. NCAC is the United States Swimming swim club based in Chapel Hill.

All these special facets help make Koury Natatorium a showpiece of the Carolina athletic program and one of the nation’s finest aquatic facilities while at the same time giving each and every Carolina swimmer and diver the resources to achieve his or her maximum potential.

Courtesy of www.tarheelblue.com and the University of North Carolina.Â