The closure of the Falls High School swimming pool due to tiles coming off the concrete bottom will likely have an impact on not only when the Bronco girls swimming and diving team will be able to start practicing there, but also when home meets could be held, International Falls Superintendent Nordy Nelson said Monday.

Nelson said the school district is waiting on the results of lab tests analyzing samples of tile, adhesive, concrete and water taken from the pool to find out what caused the problem with the tiles not sticking in place.

He said the district is hoping to receive those test results by the end of this week or early next week to be able to begin the process of getting the pool readied to reopen again.

The swimming pool, which closed following the conclusion of the 2011-12 boys swimming and diving season, had reopened July 9 after a deepening project budgeted at $198,000 wrapped up this summer.

The end of the pool where the starting blocks are located was deepened to 5 feet to comply with a rule implemented by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) that calls for a minimum depth of 4 feet to be able to use starting blocks.

However, the pool closed shortly after reopening earlier this month in response to the problem with the tiles coming off the bottom and has remained closed after being drained.

Formal practice for the Falls girls swimming and diving team is scheduled to begin Aug. 13 with the captain’s practice set to start a week earlier on Aug. 6.

Given the expected time involved to fix the pool and reopen it, Nelson said the use of other facilities in the area should be looked into for the team to begin practicing next month.

As presently scheduled, Falls’ first home swim meet is set for Sept. 4 with two other home meets also planned Sept. 6 and 11.

At this point, however, Nelson said he is “a little reluctant to say” the pool could be reopened to meet a time frame of being able to hold a home meet Sept. 4.

Instead, Nelson said it’s likely the Falls won’t be able to host those three meets in early September.

“(Those meets) won’t be here,” he said.

With three other home meets scheduled for later in the girls swimming and diving season, Nelson said the pool hopefully could be readied for them.

‘Get creative’

Falls girls swimming and diving head coach Jill Herzig said she is also waiting on the lab results on the pool before deciding what to do about holding practice and home meets this season.

Given that the pool remains unavailable with the start of practice set to begin early next month, Herzig said team will likely have to “get creative” to get in shape for this season, such as with “dry-land” practice or swimming elsewhere — possibly at City Beach or another pool.

Falls’ girls team held only two home meets last season when the teams involved had to agree to start all the swimming events in the water when starting blocks couldn’t be used because the pool wasn’t deep enough, based on the NFHS rule implemented for the 2011-12 school year.

Though the team moved other home meets to the opponents’ pools and could still use the FHS pool for practice last season after jumping in the water, the swimming pool presently remains unavailable for both practices and meets.

Herzig said the closest alternate pool that has been offered to the Falls for use is in Canada, but that would involve getting about 40 girls on the team across the border.

She said dual meets could still be held this season, even if they would again have to be moved to the opponents’ pools.

Despite the present uncertainty with where the Broncos will be able to hold practice and meets this season, Herzig said she is remaining optimistic with there being a “long season” running through November when the Section meet takes place.