Gillette Makes a Big Splash: $38 Million Aquatic Center Ushers In Wyoming’s Long-Course Era

The original story by Terin Frodyma for Swim Swam.

In a state better known for wide-open prairies than pool lanes, Gillette is about to make waves. This December, the city will open a brand-new, $38 million aquatic center — one of just two Olympic-sized (50-meter) pools in all of Wyoming and the successor to the long-serving 50-meter pool that has anchored the state’s swim scene for decades.

“The only 50-meter pool in the state of Wyoming is our current facility,” said Phil Rehard, Campbell County School District #1’s aquatic director. “Laramie/University of Wyoming is also building a 50M pool in Laramie that will house the WY Cowboys. So there will now be 2 brand new 50M pools in the state.”

Owned by the Campbell County School District and funded alongside the Campbell County Recreation District after years of saving, the new complex isn’t just a shiny replacement — it’s designed as the sport’s new hub. Gillette will keep its hallmark swim-lesson program, where every 1st–6th grader cycles through a 10-day unit each year. The pool will also stay home base for two high school teams, a junior high squad, and the Gillette Swim Team, with Rehard estimating roughly 25 high school meets and 5–6 club meets annually. Elevated seating for about 1,200 fans and deck space for roughly 600 athletes should give championship weekends the kind of atmosphere Wyoming swimmers usually have to travel out of state to find. Target opening day is December 1.

“Our community has invested in this project for a long time,” Rehard said. “It’s exciting to see it finally come to life for our students, our teams, and our state.”

Gillette’s leap is part of a broader push to modernize aging pools across Wyoming. Cheyenne, Laramie, and Green River have all replaced outdated facilities in recent years. That might sound mundane in most places, but here, where many towns rely on a single multi-use pool, a closure can mean the end of lessons, the end of lap swim — and the end of a team.

“Most places outside of Wyoming have multiple pools, but here, a town typically has just one,” Rehard said. “Communities have realized that if those old pools disappear, swimming disappears with them.”

The hope is that more long-course water will lift all boats: more lessons, bigger teams, and bigger meets.

“It really has helped boost the energy level of swimming in each community,” Rehard said. “Numbers have seemed to rise significantly in the communities that have built a pool. I believe our facility will keep our state up to having 50M of water and a great place for our championship meets as well as hopefully bring in some bigger type meets.”

For Kristen Pritchett, a 14-time NCAA All-American and former US National Team swimmer who grew up in Wyoming lanes, the timing is huge.

“The addition of a new 50-meter aquatic complex is a tremendous development for swimming in Wyoming,” she said. “Historically, the state has only had one 50-meter pool, which was the previous Gillette complex. Having this new facility, along with the 50-meter pool in Laramie currently under construction, shows how smaller communities across Wyoming are recognizing the importance of swimming and investing in facilities that support the sport.”

That investment matters in a state with fewer than 600,000 people, where the swim community is tight and collaborative. Pritchett praised the way club, high school, and college coaches coordinate, pointing to University of Wyoming head coach Dave Denniston’s work recruiting in-state talent.

“It’s always exciting to see Wyoming club swimmers go on to represent the Cowboys and Cowgirls at the next level,” she said.

Bricks and water aren’t the only ingredients, though. Pritchett is frank about the hardest part: keeping kids in the sport.

“One of the biggest challenges, not just in Wyoming but everywhere, is recruiting and retaining young age-group swimmers,” she said. “It’s important to build strong programs where kids can have fun, develop skills, and learn to love the sport.”

Access can be a hurdle, too — especially outside the big hubs. She points to Lander, a town of about 10,000, as a model that wrings maximum value from a single six-lane pool that serves high school, club, community swim, and lessons. Even Casper and Cheyenne, the state’s largest cities, still don’t have 50-meter pools.

That’s why Gillette’s new center feels like more than a ribbon-cutting. It’s a statement that long-course swimming has a future here, and that Wyoming can host its own big meets without sending buses over the border.

“Gillette has always been a leader in the sport of swimming in Wyoming,” Rehard said. “It’s exciting to start a new era with a brand new facility that will be a great facility for our entire state.”

For Pritchett, the payoff goes well beyond podium finishes.

“It will always make my heart happy to see our communities in Wyoming supporting swimming and aquatic centers,” she said. “They are used daily for community open swim, swim lessons, scuba diving lessons, and yes, also swim practice. Wyoming is not necessarily a swimming state, which is certainly influenced by weather and geography, but I am always optimistic on Wyomingites continuing to see the value in knowing how to swim and the sport of swimming as a whole.”

Come December, that optimism will have a new home lane.