Athletes on the Camas Swim Team wake up at 5:00 a.m. to go to a shared facility in Cascade Athletic Club instead of practicing after school. This is because Camas does not have a community pool for convenience. Camas thought to make a community pool in theory, but that might not be worth it in the eyes of Camas community members.

The Camas Swim Team wakes up early in order to go to Vancouver for practice that is 6:45-7:45 a.m. at Cascade Athletic Club. All practice takes place here, as well as home swim meets and swims parties. CHS also practices with neighboring schools at this pool. 

The members of the Camas Swim Team have to wake up at 5 a.m. or earlier to attend Cascade Athletic Club in Vancouver. This is inconvenient for students who do not drive yet, and students who do not live in Vancouver. Students in places like Washougal, Columbia River Gorge, Livingston, and in faraway parts in Camas live far away from their practice center.

Senior Avery Deringer said, “Well for one it’s a hike out there, it’s not an easy drive to make. I live up on Livingston and it’s at least a 25- 30 minute drive in the morning for me so I had to get up every day and leave the house at 6 a.m.”

Starting their days that early every school day can impact their grades and sleep. Scheduling later or after school is not viable due to problems with availability and sharing with other teams. Renting out this place is a financial challenge, and swimming at Lacamas Lake is not an option due to safety concerns.                                                         

Some think the solution is to build a Camas community pool. Camas made a controversial plan in 2019. There was a $78,000,000 bond for an athletic building with a pool but the public voted against it, leaving no pool built. 

CHS athletic director Rory Oster said, “We probably spend 25 to 30 thousand a year on facilities for pools. I think building a pool, you’re looking in the multi-millions. There are a lot of years at 30 thousand to get to that point. So financially wise, it wouldn’t make sense for our school district to put in a new bond to try to build a pool unless the community really wants it for swim education.”

Building a Camas community pool is a hard decision that comes with many pros and cons. For the foreseeable future, the Camas Swim Team will have to continue commuting to other pools.