The aquatics center at University of the Pacific, home to the school’s nationally ranked water polo teams and its swimming programs, has been named in honor of the late alumnus and Stockton leader Douglass M. Eberhardt.

The Douglass M. Eberhardt Aquatics Center honors the 1959 Pacific graduate, philanthropist and community leader who served as CEO and chair of the Bank of Stockton from 1994 until his death in 2018. 

Eberhardt, who was a member of Pacific’s water polo and swimming teams as a student and was inducted into the Pacific Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the 1956 water polo team, later served 12 years on the university’s Board of Regents. Eberhardt family members have served on the Board of Regents almost continuously since 1953.

The naming recognizes the decades-long service to Pacific by the Eberhardt family and a generous donation from the family and Bank of Stockton that was the lead gift in the recent renovations to the facility.

“This is a perfect tribute to the Eberhardt family, which has contributed so much to our university, and to Douglass, who served his alma mater with distinction for many years,” said Pacific President Christopher Callahan. “I look forward to cheering on our Pacific Tigers for years to come at the Douglass M. Eberhardt Aquatics Center alongside Regent Mary-Elizabeth Eberhardt and other family members.”

The center is now one of the finest collegiate aquatics venues in the nation following the 2019 renovations, which included the addition of a state-of-the-art, high-definition video board, increased spectator seating and improved accessibility from the newly constructed entrance off Larry Heller Drive.

The center served as host to the 2019 NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship, which featured the Pacific Tigers and Stanford Cardinal. The 2023 NCAA Women’s Water Polo Championship will be held at the Eberhardt Aquatics Center on May 5-7, 2023. 

The venue, which first opened in 1973, will be identified as the Chris Kjeldsen Pool at the Douglass M. Eberhart Aquatics Center, maintaining the naming of the pool, which honors the first Pacific All-American and late head swimming coach who died in 1962 while serving as head coach at the age of 50.

Kjeldsen was an All-American football player under legendary coach Amos Alonzo Stagg in 1933 and 1934. He went on to work at Pacific for 28 years, coaching football, basketball, tennis, baseball and swimming. In 1982, he was inducted as a charter member into the Pacific Athletics Hall of Fame.