Marian Bergeson Aquatic Center renovation complete

Some things are worth the wait.

Angela Kraus has certainly found that to be true. It’s been almost 10 years now since she sat down with then-Corona del Mar High boys’ water polo coach Sam Bailey and girls’ water polo coach Aaron Chaney, discussing changes and renovations needed for CdM’s Marian Bergeson Aquatics Center.

Kraus has pushed and pushed for improvements. Many of them didn’t even happen by the time her children, Evan, Adina and Ben, passed through the CdM aquatics program.

Tuesday’s unveiling ceremony, then, was a culmination of a decade of hard work. The last of four phases of the $2.8-million Marian Bergeson Aquatics Center renovation is over, with the new men’s and women’s locker rooms opening this fall.

“For me personally, this project embodies an important life lesson that I’ve tried to instill in my kids,” Kraus told a crowd of nearly 100 that included Newport Mesa Unified School Board members, Newport Beach City Council members and Mayor Rush Hill. “That is, always finish what you start, no matter how long it takes. We’re so proud of the renovated aquatics center. It’s truly a flagship facility that is so central in our community, which thrives on every imaginable water sport.”

The people sat under shade structures that weren’t there 10 years ago. Neither was the high-tech scoreboard across the way, and the pool certainly needed to be replastered. Kraus, the president of the CdM Community Aquatics Facilities Foundation which also includes NMUSD Board president Karen Yelsey, city councilwoman Leslie Daigle and Marian Bergeson, kept pushing.

“When Evan was a freshman in high school [in 2004], this place was looking pretty tired,” Kraus said. “The pool was so worn and discolored, [CdM boys’ water polo coach] Barry [O’Dea] named it, ‘The Great Barrier Reef.’”

It is the most recent improvements to the Marian Bergeson Aquatics Center, which CdM teams first started using in 1991, that are perhaps the most noticeable. The new locker rooms, all 3,000 square feet of them, are impressive. Each has 112 lockers, 10 showers and new restroom facilities. And the team room next to the coaches’ offices has also been renovated. It’s gone high-tech, with 13 computers for the students to use.

Money for the renovation was contributed by the school district, the city of Newport Beach and CdM aquatics community members, Kraus said.

NMUSD Superintendent Dr. Fred Navarro introduced the speakers at Tuesday’s ceremony. They also included Yelsey, Daigle, Bergeson and O’Dea, who spoke to the crowd before coaching CdM to a win against Woodbridge in a home game.

Some of the little things impressed O’Dea, as he said with a laugh that he’s happy that the bathroom stalls now have doors on them.

“The additions to this pool deck are phenomenal,” O’Dea said. “This has always been one of the best facilities in the state of California, if not one of the best outdoor facilities in the country, to start with. But now, with the addition of what we have on campus and on the pool deck, it is actually, in my opinion, the premiere facility in the state of California.”

Bergeson, who is now 89, has had her children and grandchildren play for CdM. The former California State Senator and Assemblywoman said she is proud that the renovations have happened. It seems to be a fitting place to bear the name of Bergeson, who was first elected to the Newport Mesa Unified School District Board of Education back in 1964.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am of this facility,” Bergeson said. “I appreciate so much all of the support that has gone in, to make this dream become a reality.

“I’d jump in that pool, too, if I could swim,” she said, to laughs, as she spoke in the warm afternoon sun. “Don’t tell anybody.”

At the end of the ceremony, it was time to uncover the fish wall on the side of the locker rooms. Donors to the aquatics center renovation are honored with a fish on the wall, which also serves to honor the Olympians who have played or coached in the CdM aquatics program. The fish wall was designed and built by local artist De Carter-Ray.

On Tuesday, Kraus approached another young water polo star. She wanted to show CdM junior Maddie Musselman, last year’s Daily Pilot Newport-Mesa Girls’ Water Polo Player of the Year, where her fish was on the wall. Maddie, somewhat embarrassed, still went over to inspect where the fish was, above the ones of her younger sister Ella and older sister Alex.

The fish indicate the community effort that was necessary to make the changes. As Kraus listed them off, including new lighting, a remodeled snack bar and the CdM aquatics “honor wall” on the northeast side of the pool deck, it was with pride.

CdM may finally have an even more world-class facility to match its world-class athletes.

“This pool has been an early training site for 10 Olympians who attended CdM,” Yelsey said. “With this newly renovated facility, I’m confident this prestigious list will continue to grow.”