A Seneca Valley swimmer warms up in the school district's new pool during the venue's inaugural event Thursday. The aquatic center had its official opening last Wednesday.

It took three and a half years to plan, design and construct the Seneca Valley Aquatic Center.

For students and parents of the district's swimming and diving team, however, it was well worth the wait.

The new indoor pool opened last Wednesday to cheers and chants from the team's members, capping off a process that began in August 2017 to replace the district's 50-plus-year-old pool.

Seneca's aquatic building comes with a host of features that the school district, which broke ground on the center in September 2019, had hoped would be as refreshing as diving into the pool itself.

“It has several new features, including an air filtration system and video cameras, so that our divers and swimmers can watch themselves and see if they need to make any changes to their technique,” swim coach Brian Blackwell said.

With a brand-new coat of paint, district logo and attractive video board, the pool is an upgrade from the former pool. Beyond the amenities, the building itself is an improvement for the team.

“There's also a lot more space, a separate area for divers, so they and the swimmers can practice at the same time,” Blackwell added. “The place is incredible.”

Sherry Hockenberry, a parent volunteer and board member of the Seneca Valley Swim Club whose son is on the varsity swimming and diving team, said the building's aesthetics make it distinct.

“To me, it's the No. 1 facility in Western Pennsylvania, and I've been to quite a few pools in the area,” she said. “They paid attention to every detail. The pool is much larger, we have an eight-lane pool that's 25 yards, plus we have an additional warmup pool. That's exceptional.”From the blue-and-black seats to the Seneca Valley logo on the wall, the pool is chock full of Raider spirit, Hockenberry added, saying the varsity swimmers are “very excited” about moving to the new facility adjacent to the intermediate high school.Although the swim club hasn't had the chance yet to use the Aquatic Center, Hockenberry said its members are excited for its potential, both for competitive swimming and learn-to-swim classes.“We parents are so grateful for the district leadership and the community leadership that worked tirelessly for so many years to make this Aquatic Center a reality,” she said. “It's a huge asset to the community.“This larger pool is going to allow us to accommodate more swimmers in our competitive swim programs and also offer lessons to more students and give us more flexibility to schedule that. It's really a phenomenal facility,” she said.Blackwell echoed Hockenberry's sentiment about the pool building's value.“This pool will not only help athletes at the school, but a lot of people in general like to swim,” he said. “This will help kids all over the district learn to swim and be safe while doing it. A smaller pool would have made this much more challenging.”<i>Eagle staff writer Derek Pyda contributed to this report.</i>

The new Seneca Valley School District pool had a recent grand opening.