UW Pool Needs YOUR Support
Dear Schroeder Families-
You may already be following the news about the current facilities proposal by UW Rec Sports. The Rec Sports plan not only effects the UW Swim & Dive team’s future, but also the greater Wisconsin swimming community. To bring many of you up to speed, Rec Sports will be bringing a referendum to vote in early March. The details of the project can be found at the following link: http://uwmadisonrecsports.wordpress.com .
Until a month ago, the Rec Sports Renovation plan included a Swimming & Diving competition pool at the SERF location, with seating for 1500 spectators, to replace the current SERF training pool. This plan was developed on the assumption that Rec Sports and UW Athletics would partner on the competition pool project. The aging natatorium lags woefully behind the competition facilities of its Big 10 peers, and this partnership opportunity would allow the University to vastly improve its facilities at a fraction of the cost of a future stand-alone project.
A month ago, the Athletic Department communicated that it was not interested in partnering with Rec Sports at this time and would not be funding any portion of the competition pool project. The competition pool component has now been removed from the current Rec Sports renovation plan. If nothing further is done, and the current referendum passes, the SERF building will begin substantial renovations in 2017. The pool will be left as is--a serviceable training facility--but nothing more. In 2019, the Natatorium location will be bulldozed and replaced with expanded student recreational facilities, and NO competition pool. This would be devastating to the UW Swim & Dive program and a blow to the entire Wisconsin swimming community. There is currently no other facility in the state capable of hosting our High School State Meets and very few other facilities capable of hosting age group state meets. There is already a shortage of venues to meet the demands of competitive swimming in Wisconsin. We can’t afford to lose this one.
There is still a window of opportunity. The Foundation and the Chancellors office are taking and interest in this project and are scheduled to meet soon to discuss the Rec Sports project and the competition pool. With that said, now is the ideal time to show an outpouring of support for this project. The Chancellor, foundation members, and the Athletic department need to understand how popular and well supported the sport of swimming is in Wisconsin and how badly the swim community needs a good competition facility. We can still impact this decision.
You can help by taking time this week to compose an email to the Chancellor, Foundation Board members, Athletic department, Athletic Board members, or anyone else you have a personal connection with at the University. Please show your support and clarify the importance of this project. There are so many reasons that this partnership represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the University. Please strongly encourage those responsible for steering the course of UW to carefully reconsider this project in light of its importance to the University, its legacy of programs and facilities, its Swim & Dive Team, the greater Wisconsin swimming community, and the many communities throughout Wisconsin that so generously support the UW.
If you have further questions about this issue or would like to get more involved, please contact Laura teDuits at (608) 335-3636 or laurateduits@gmail.com. For your convenience, a brief list of email contacts follows. If you have other valuable personal contacts at the University, please use those.
Sincerely,
Laura teDuits
Fighting for the Future of Swimming in Wisconsin
