Pfeiffer Natatorium

The Battling Bishop men’s and women’s swimming teams host their home meets at Pfeiffer Natatorium, located on South Sandusky Street on the southern edge of campus.

Pfeiffer Natatorium has hosted Ohio Wesleyan swimming events since its opening in 1954. Its 6-lane pool is 25 yards long. The natatorium is named in recognition of the gift of Annie Merner Pfeiffer.

Pfeiffer Natatorium adjoins Edwards Gymnasium, the nerve center of Ohio Wesleyan athletics for over a century. Opened during the 1905-06 academic year, the still-unfinished facility hosted Ohio Wesleyan’s first intercollegiate basketball team. As many as 3000 fans crammed their way into the double-decked court on the building’s second floor, which still hosts varsity practices and intramurals. The gym was named after John Edwards, who served on the Board of Trustees in the late 1890s and early 1900s. One of the biggest facilities in the state at the time of its construction, Edwards was one of the first sites for the Ohio high school basketball tournament championships, which it hosted into the 1930s.

Prior to 1954, Ohio Wesleyan swimming events were contested in the University’s first pool, a 20-foot by 20-yard facility in the basement of Edwards Gym that served the University for nearly 50 years after Edwards opened during the 1905-06 academic year.

The future home of the the Bishops, the Phil & Nancy Meek Aquatics and Recreation Center, is under construction and is scheduled for completion during the fall of 2010.

Directions to Pfeiffer Natatorium

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