BOWIE, Md. —Every Thursday, Bowie State University Department of Athletics will spotlight one student-athlete or administrator in wake of COVID-19 pandemic that forced CIAA to suspend fall competition until the spring of 2021. This week's spotlight will feature Mark Wascavage, the Aquatics Coordinator from Pennsylvania.

Wascavage loves two things: Teaching and Coaching. He spent 45 years doing such at DuVal High School as a work-study coordinator while coaching girls' basketball for two years and varsity wrestling for ten years. Now, after retiring from full-time teaching, Wascavage can focus full-time on the third thing he loves: Swimming and being around the water.

As the Aquatics Coordinator at Bowie State, he makes sure everything is coordinated and run smoothly: By the activities going in the pool, ensuring the place is all set up, that the water is safe, and all the machinery is working correctly. Wascavage said he also likes to swim a "couple of laps himself every other day."

"I enjoy working with the students and with all the people who come in here," Wascavage said. "I've been working with aquatics for a long-time and always had a love for the water myself. It's always been a nice, clean, safe place to work."

The swimming pool was initially built into the James Complex when Bowie State was founded in 1865. But the pool was never used much, or even at all. When Dr. Aminta Breaux became President of Bowie State University in 2017, one of her main priorities was to reopen the pool. She believed having a pool contributed to Bowie State students' physical and emotional health, especially during this time of being in a global pandemic.

"A pool on the campus is an asset to our students, employees, alumni and other individuals and groups who seek to utilize the campus for various educational purposes, including camps and conferences," Dr. Breaux said. "There was great excitement among members of our campus and larger community when we reopened the pool."

In March, the University released an official statement that its "renovated Aquatics Center, with an Olympic-size pool, was officially open to the campus community and the public".

"The whole interior of the pool has been redone, the whole pump room, the mechanical parts of the pool have all completely been redone," Wascavage said. "Everything is now digital, as far as the mechanics of the pool."

During a phone interview, Wascavage discussed what else the pool offers, how it's operating during a global pandemic, and more.

Will the center offer any swim programs?
We're going to offer swim lessons free to all students on Wednesday and Thursday. And they're on a drop-in basis. Just come in, drop in any time, and stay as long as you can. We'll have two Red Cross certified water safety instructors.

What's the plan to reopen to the community and public?
Right now, we don't have plans to open for the campus community and general public. Right now, we're open for faculty, students and staff. But we do have some protocols for COVID restrictions.
So, COVID restrictions say that we're open for lap swimming only—people can come in and swim laps. But we realize now that everybody doesn't swim and swim laps. So, when people come, we ask them to stay in their own lane. If you want to come, stand around, relax and cool off with your friends, we would ask you just to pick a lane and stay there. And that helps you keep your distance from the COVID restrictions.

How many people are allowed in the pool?
We think the pool is underused right now; we'd like to see more people in here. Our limits are currently ten people at a time because, like I mentioned earlier, we said one person per lane, and we have eight lanes.

We have eight lanes with swimmers and two people waiting. And we picked that number ten way back in probably, May—when the governor reopened the state and didn't want gatherings of more than ten people. But now that people gather in bigger numbers, we've kept that number here at the pool. So, it's easier for people to keep their personal space.

But I could see us opening to more people in the future.

Tell me how the structure will change when normalcy returns?
When things get back to some normal operations, we'll have a combination of, I guess, everything you might say: We'll have lap lanes for people who want to come in and swim laps. We'll have an open area for people to relax and have fun—both in shallow and deep water which will occur during regular, open time. And we'll also expect to open for the outside community, rentals and swim teams.

We also expect some swim teams; might host swim meets. Maybe county public schools will come in and rent time during the swim season too.

How vital is pool safety to you?
That has always been very important to me. My theme for water safety is what I call: Breaking the cycle. Here is what I mean by that: When parents, older uncles, and aunts— who are non-swimmers—rarely take children to the pool or encourage them to take swim lessons. Therefore, those young kids grew up as non-swimmers. Then, the cycle continues: They won't encourage their young children to go to the pool or take swim lessons.

The drowning rates in the United States are terrible. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) says ten people drown every day in non-boating related accidents. When you look at the drowning rates for minorities, they sky-rocket. Younger children—people under 20-years-old—drown in backyard pools and places like that.

So, that's why I'm big on water safety, and that's why we're starting a water safety program.       
 
Have you personally seen somebody drown?
I've never seen any drowning. But as a lifeguard, I've had to make rescues. My second year working as the pool manager, I walked out of the office and saw a lifeguard make a rescue—then set a little kid up on the deck—who was drowning. So we ran over there, gave the kid CPR, and saved the kid's life.