The Irish swimming and diving teams compete in the state-of-the-art Rolfs Aquatic Center.
After 27 years for the men’s swimming team and four years of varsity intercollegiate swimming competition for the women’s team in the Rockne Memorial Pool, the Notre Dame men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs entered a new era in 1985, as they moved to the $4.5-million natatorium located in the Joyce Center.
Donated by brothers Thomas and Robert Rolfs of West Bend, Wis., the Rolfs Aquatic Center provides Notre Dame with a modern, innovative facility on par with any other in the country. Ellerbe Architects and Engineers of Bloomington, Minn., the architects used in the planning of the Joyce Center, also were commissioned to design the 45,000-square-foot facility which houses a 50-meter Olympic pool (25 yards in width), spectator seating for 400 and support facilities.
The facility features a cutting edge video and replay board, and two movable bulkheads to allow sections of the pool to be blocked off, allowing swimming competition and warm-up swimming to occur simultaneously. The design also allows recreational swimming, water polo, instructional swimming and other aquatic activities. Diving is accommodated with two one-meter boards and two three-meter boards.