It's in the natatorium now, all by itself. Until January 2006, there was never a natatorium to hang out in. Here, it can stare unblinkingly at Adam Vance, the person responsible for putting it there. And Vance can stare right back, proud in knowing that it will always be there, 365 days a year, forever and ever.

Vance wants to help it. He wants others to join it.

The only way to do that was to, in his words, “give back” — which means he was only too happy to accept a job as diving coach for the Pennridge Aquatic Club. The PAC is a winter swimming and diving team, born this past summer, for kids ages 6 up to 18.

His credentials are above the Pennridge pool's entryway. They are hanging on it — a green banner with white lettering that reveals Vance was a state champion diver in 1997, his senior year at Pennridge.

“It's an amazing feeling to see it, that after 10 years it's still here,” he said. “I've had cousins and friends of the family call

and say they saw Adam's banner. It gives you a small spark to want to ignite that feeling of giving back.”

There are no other banners trumpeting the accomplishments of other Pennridge swimmers and divers because, well, because Pennridge and swimming are a lot like oil and water — they don't mix.

Now that Pennridge has a pool, that may change. More than 100 kids joined PAC's winter team, 13 of whom are divers. The hope is that PAC's winter team, combined with a summer program that has been around much longer, will become a strong feeder program for the high school team.

“We're playing a big game of catch-up,” said Vance, 28. “You look at the history of swimming and diving in the area and who are your top teams? Souderton and North Penn, and it's because Souderton and (North Penn feeder) Nor-Gwyn have had pools forever.”

Until opening its pool not quite two years ago, Pennridge's high school swim team, which changed coaches at the rate of about one per year, was conducted out of the Upper Bucks YMCA in Quakertown. That is where the Rams, typically small in numbers, practiced, and practiced at off-beat hours. In an ironic twist, the Upper Bucks YMCA rents Pennridge's pool and still has a say in when PAC swimmers and divers can practice and compete.

“An aquatic program has to start somewhere,” said Vance. “Now it's here and I want to help it explode.”

Vance never really had that chance when he roamed the hallways as a student at Pennridge, because most of his training was done at Souderton then La Salle University, where he ultimately earned an almost-full scholarship to dive for the Explorers.

As a college freshman, he won the Atlantic 10 Conference 1- and 3-meter diving board titles. He followed that up with second-place finishes as a sophomore. Vance ultimately left La Salle a few credits short of graduating and burned out on diving.

He became involved in a home-based sales business, which he continues to operate from his home in Philadelphia, and jumped at the opportunity to help coach PAC's divers.

“My parents told me (Pennridge) has a pool and I said, "Are you kidding me?' ” said Vance. “I'm completely psyched about this happening.”

More than just a new pool at Pennridge has changed since Vance left. The school has undergone a multimillion-dollar renovation, which confused him when he arrived on the school's campus for an interview with PAC president Matt Bashaar. Vance had to pull over in one of the school's parking lots and call for directions.

Now that he's found his way, however, he's not planning on leaving anytime soon.

“My long-term goal is to help fund an Olympic-sized pool for this area for elite level swimmers and divers,” he said.

Should that happen, so, too, should something else along the way: company for the one and only banner currently hanging in the Pennridge natatorium.