The Snoqualmie Valley has its own state champion in a sport most people didn’t even know we competed in.
Late last month, Mount Si High’s own Chase Goulart took a state title in the 200 meter race at the 3A boys’ swimming championships. Goulart cruised to take gold at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center, a public Olympic-sized natatorium in Federal Way.
What’s telling is that Goulart has to practice outside the Valley. He, and any other ambitious young swimmers, have to travel to places like Issaquah to condition or compete.
Goulart’s coach, Laura Halter, told the Record that the Valley could do better.
“The lack of a pool facility in your area is a huge detriment,” she said.
The Valley already has a swimming pool at Si View Community Center that is ideal for family activities, recreation and swimming lessons. But it doesn’t have the length of lanes needed for serious training.
The Brightstar-owned TPC Snoqualmie Ridge is in the works to build a new pool and children’s swimming area at that private golf club, but it’s unknown whether student athletes could train there.
If built as planned this year, the Snoqualmie Community Center and YMCA slated for Snoqualmie Ridge’s Community Park is not going to have a swimming pool in its first phase. The YMCA of Greater Seattle emerged as the city of Snoqualmie’s premiere partner in part due to their pool-running bona fides, and it’s hard to knock the Y’s skill and experience in running swimming and family recreation facilities.
But does the city-owned park site on the Ridge have enough room for a long-course swimming pool? It looks a bit tight on that hill already.
Facilities do play a role in training young athletes. Mount Si sports fans can celebrate state-calibre teams in a number of sports. But it’s telling that we have so much success in sports such as golf, in which the Valley is generously blessed with golf courses — we have eight. One wonders what our tennis team would be like if we had more than two courts in the Snoqualmie district.
Maybe it’s a forlorn hope given the state of the economy, but if more than a handful of Valley organizations could pull together, we could develop something bigger for our aquatic athletes.
Suppose that Si View Metro Parks, the cities of North Bend and Snoqualmie, or other entities jointly built an Upper Valley convention and aquatics center? Obviously, the feasibility of such a project would need to be studied. But with the Valley already in a race to develop hotels, tourism and recreation possibilities are at the forefront of many minds.
Investors are eyeing the Valley as a destination — Snoqualmie Falls and Mount Si bring in hundreds of thousands of sightseers — and a swimming facility might draw in visitors and athletes from across the state.
The Valley’s former “us versus them” mentality seems to be fading. If more of us work together, we could do great things. Just consider the possibilities.
• E-mail Valley Record Editor Seth Truscott at editor@valleyrecord.com.
