Students in the Master of Arts in History program in the IU School of Liberal Arts recently had the opportunity to dig into the IU Indianapolis archives to learn more about the origins of the campus and its unique history. Part one in this blog series looks the IU Natatorium’s role in bolstering Indianapolis’s reputation as the “amateur sports capital of the world.”
We Love You and Your Pool!
By Hunter Marsh
“Indianapolis, we love you and your pool!”1 American swimmers let out this cheer in the IU Natatorium at the conclusion of the 1982 National Sports Festival, which was the maiden voyage for the aquatic center. The ’82 festival became the first in an extensive list of events hosted at the Indianapolis venue, which has remained a big fish in the pond of amateur athletics for more than 40 years.
Photo by Liz Kaye
Murmurs of erecting a natatorium in the Circle City bubbled in the late 1970s until IU’s Board of Trustees officially approved the construction of the facility on IUPUI (now IU Indianapolis) grounds on March 1, 1980.2 Private foundations, led by the Lilly Endowment, pooled their resources with public funds to build the $21.5 million complex.³ At the groundbreaking ceremony on November 12, 1980, IU President John Ryan expressed high hopes for what would become one of the fastest pools in America, stating it, “promises to enhance even further the reputation of the city as a place where amateur sports thrive.”4
When the IU Natatorium filled it pools in May 1982,5 the Hoosier capital was already in the middle of a campaign to transform into the “amateur sports capital of the world.”6 IUPUI was a key player in its home city’s sports initiative. Alongside IU Natatorium, Indy’s civic leaders anchored other sporting facilities—the former Indianapolis Tennis Center and Michael A. Carroll Track and Soccer Stadium—on the local campus.7 These three world-class venues were integral to landing prestigious competitions like the 1982 Festival and 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis.
IU Natatorium individually made a splash for Indiana through the hundreds of national and international competitions, including 14 Olympic Trials, it has held over the years.8 Over the course of its lifetime, media and athletes alike have labeled the IUPUI facility the “finest swimming and diving building in the country.”9 The impressive nature of the natatorium also attracted three major amateur sports governing bodies (U.S.A. Diving, U.S. Synchronized Swimming, and U.S. Water Polo) to headquarter in Indy for a brief period.10
Through the events and organizations IU Natatorium lured to the city, it contributed greatly to Indianapolis’ current image as a sports town. A fresh wave of spectators and competitors took over the Circle City for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Swim Trials this past June—making it an ideal moment to reflect on the natatorium that contributed so much to Indy’s swimming and amateur sports scene.
1Mike Moran, “1982 National Sports Festival Recap,” Hudnut Box 141, William H. Hudnut III Collection, Institute for Civic Leadership and Digital Mayoral Archives, University of Indianapolis, pp. 2.
2March 1, 1980, minutes, Indiana University Board of Trustee Minutes, Indiana University Digital Collections Services and Indiana University Archives, Indiana University.
3Terry Holmes, “A tale of two pools,” Swim magazine, March 1983, pp. 21.
4John Ryan, Speech at Ceremony Marking the Start of Construction of Indiana University Natatorium, November 12, 1980, UA041, box 33, folder 8, Office of the Chancellor Records, 1914-2017 Collection, IUPUI University Archives, IUPUI, Indianapolis, IN.
5“Pools filled: natatorium near completion,” Sagamore, May 12, 1982, Sagamore (Indianapolis, Indiana) Records, 1971-2005 Collection, eArchives, Ruth Lilly Special Collections & Archives, IUPUI, pp. 6.
6“Naptown to Super City: How a civic-sports strategy transformed Indianapolis,” produced by Ted Green and Jon Sweeney, aired January 26, 2012, WFYI, 16:20.
7John Ketzenberger, “Ted Boehm Interview,” transcript of oral history conducted November 1, 2011, M1025, Box 1, Folder 2, “Rebuilding Indianapolis: The Sports Initiative” Oral Histories, 2010-2011 Collection, Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis, IN, pp. 11.
8“Welcome to the iconic IU Natatorium,” IUPUI, https://natatorium.indianapolis.iu.edu/ (Accessed April 28, 2024).
9Dave Stockdale, “Indianapolis is driving force in amateur sports boom,” The Des Moines Register, June 8, 1986.
10United States Diving, “Diving to have new home in Indianapolis,” May 29, 1981, Hudnut Box 100, Wiliam H. Hudnut III Collection, Institute for Civil Leadership and Digital Mayoral Archives and Margaret Haddix, “U.S. Water Polo headquarters plans to move to Indianapolis,” The Indianapolis News, December 9, 1989.