Providence Aquatic Center
Providence School is proud to announce the official opening of the Providence Aquatic Center, a state-of-the-art aquatic facility serving students from kindergarten through 12th grade. Although the weather prevented the planned grand opening celebration last week, we are filled with gratitude as we mark this historic milestone. The Providence Aquatic Center reflects years of planning, perseverance, and generosity. We are especially thankful for the vision of our School Board, the leadership of our administration, and the donors and families who made this project possible.
Construction began in 2024 and was completed at the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year. As one involved with the building process noted, “we saw miracle after miracle” throughout construction. We are tremendously grateful for Glenn Wilkes, Terry Shepard, and Judd Clarkson of Clarkson Pools, who worked tirelessly on this vision, as well as John and Kathryn Fonville, who poured years of dedication, along with our School Board and Swim Families, to ensure this became a reality. Our swim program is built on a foundation of families and athletes who have modeled determination and excellence, and we pray that those values continue to guide our teams for generations.
Adjacent to the King Center and Selman Field, the Providence Aquatic Center is a welcome and much-anticipated addition to our campus. This is a $2 million, 8-lane, 25 yard competition pool. The new pool area includes shaded bleachers and restroom access, which will greatly enhance our spectators’ experience. Additionally, we have deck-level gutters which provide a more intimate setting for teaching young swimmers. The new state-of-the-art Nevco timing/video system and Musco lighting system will provide nightime lighting and incredible accuracy for swim meets. Providence is now able to host competitions that are exciting, comfortable, accessible, and enjoyable.
Led by our new head coach, Coach Mo Van Gils, the center gives our athletes the capability to spring toward new competitive heights in the pool. We invite our Providence community to visit the Providence Aquatic Center soon and celebrate this remarkable achievement with us!
Upcoming 2025 Swim Meet
Thursday, October 9
5:00 PM
Prov vs. Cornerstone Classical
Coach Mo Van Gils
Monique Salles-Cunha van Gils comes from a coaching family that has helped produce Top 16 in the Nation swimmers, Olympic Gold Medalists, and World Record holders. Monique began her swimming career at a young age and continued it through college. In college she swam for two Division One programs, Duke University and the University of North Florida. At UNF she had the longest-standing school record in the 100 breaststroke until she coached her own swimmer to break it, and she placed in the top 3 at conference in the 100 breaststroke. Her wealth of knowledge and experience from her business degrees and Aquatic director background will certainly add to the enrichment of our swimmers.
Coach “Mo” started coaching the Queens’s Harbor Wahoo’s in 1998 where she developed children from the age of 4. One such swimmer, Ryan Murphy, who started with Coach Mo at the age of 4 in the summer league is now a five-time Olympic Gold medalist. From 2011-2013, Coach Mo was the Assistant Coach for the University of North Florida’s Women’s Swim Team and helped her athletes achieve cuts for the Canadian Olympic Trials and place top three in the finals and CCSA. She has coached all levels of swimmers from teaching toddlers how to swim, age group swimmers, high school swimming, to masters (adult) swimmers.
“We’re excited to host FHSAA competitions and welcome swimmers of all levels. This continues our tradition of excellence, and we believe our future swimmers deserve the best. We invite you to be part of this next chapter for Providence Swimming & Diving.” – Coach Mo
Construction Photos
