An Upgrade for the Irish

When you think of all the uses for a Colorado Time Systems LED matrix Indoor Full Color Display, settling down to enjoy a movie probably isn't one of them. But that's just one of the ways the University of Notre Dame has used its new display.

"At our summer swim camp, we bought 75 inner tubes, then let the kids float and watch a movie!" says Matt Tallman, Notre Dame's Associate Head Swim Coach. And although that's a fun use for the school's new scoreboard/display, it's just the tip of the iceberg for the CTS equipment in this busy swim facility.

The Notre Dame natatorium is busy almost non-stop, especially during the academic year, when the pool is in use nearly continually from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m daily. Saturday is the only day the facility is closed, Tallman notes. During each week, a club team operates a lap swim for at least a few hours a day – and then there are the meets.

The men's swim team "has one meet a week, the women do as well – some are together and some aren't," says Tallman. "We run four club meets a year, and for the past few years there's been a big high school meet between a girls' high school from Detroit and a girls' high school from Chicago. They meet in the middle and swim here!"

Time for a Change

Amid all the activity, over the past three or four years, Notre Dame has been giving the natatorium a facelift – adding new starting blocks, wiring, lane lines, flags, pace clocks, bulkheads (a project in the near future) and, of course, the new display.

But why all the new equipment? Tallman explains that the university's old scoreboard was a big part of the problem. "We had an eight-lane scoreboard that was digits-only, installed 23 years ago when the pool was built – it was time for a change. Sometimes there would be shortages on the old board and it just wouldn't work for a race or two! Newer technology is just going to be more reliable, allowing the swimmers to get the info they need right when the race is over. Overall, it helps complete a big facelift for the facility, too."

CTS provided a complete new LED matrix display system for Notre Dame, as well as competitive swim equipment including: 10 wireless amber LED pace clocks, a System 6 Timing Console and 16 deck plates.

How is the new equipment benefitting the team? The display "does so much more than just give us the time," says Tallman. "The colors and video capabilities are such a huge upgrade from what we had. We can show our team videos of them swimming. We can use [the display] to run clips from Olympic trials and other videos. And [the whole installation] helps with recruiting because it's an upgrade to the facility – it shows our recruits that the university is interested in the team."

CTS Provides On-Time Installation, Expert Advice

CTS was involved not just in providing and installing equipment, but in every aspect of the installation. "I talked to our CTS rep quite a bit," Tallman explains. "He's been a big help and has given us some great recommendations about what we should look for and what would be best for our facility – because he's been here and seen the facility."

The installation went relatively smoothly, especially considering that the building itself was older. CTS guaranteed a finish date for the project and stuck to it, which impressed Tallman and his department. And when a technical "glitch" came up during a meet, it was quickly resolved with a call to CTS.

"I don't think there were any real problems on [CTS's] end," recalls Tallman. "There were some time-consuming issues with the wiring – just the limitations of working with an existing building. But nothing that was a concern about getting the job done."

A Team Effort

Tallman and the Notre Dame men's and women's swim teams are grateful not just to CTS for a smooth installation, but to the Notre Dame alumni and department directors who helped pull together to raise the funds for the facelift – and to CTS for quoting an installation the school could afford.

"CTS did a great job of giving us pricing we could meet through a combination of funds from our budget and [donations from] alumni who helped out," says Tallman. "We had a lot of help from our alums and the department to make it work. We were just really happy to get it done!"