Need your help to save UW-Madison's Natatorium

Dear Fox Valley Wave Families and Coaches:

I wanted to alert you to a significant issue that is going on that could have a major impact on the growth and sustainability of competitive swimming across our state. Below is a copy of a communication that several swim team Board Chairs have been sending out to parents. I would strongly encourage you to take a couple of minutes to read through it to gain a better understanding of what is happening. We had a Board Meeting tonight and will be forwarding you additional information to help you connect to why this is important for all of our age group swimmers. In the meantime, please feel free to contact any and all of the people listed below to express your deep concern. _______________________________________________________________________________________________

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 will also our club and 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<http://uwmadisonrecsports.wordpress.com/> . You can also follow coverage via swimswam.com<http://swimswam.com> or wisca.net<http://wisca.net>.

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. On personal note, anyone of us who have been to the Nat can attest to how inadequate and disrespectful this facility is for the Wisconsin Swimming community.

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, 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.

You should also be aware that if this proposal goes through, WIAA has a long standing, non-negotiable policy, that no high school state meet can be held at a facility that does not separate spectators from the pool deck. Excluding the NAT, this leaves two facilities in WI: Schroeder and Rec Plex, neither of which meets the criteria for spectator seating requirements by the WIAA Meaning, there is a possibility that WI will not be able to conduct a state meet for high school swimming.

There is still a window of opportunity. The Foundation and the Chancellors office are taking an 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, state legislators 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 Kristine Hackbarth-Horn, [email protected] – 920-858-6805 or Curt Beutler [email protected] 920-915-0573. For your convenience, a brief list of email contacts follows. If you have other valuable personal contacts at the University, please use those. Additionally, if you have any relationship with or contacts at WIAA, I would highly encourage you to contact them as well.

Sincerely,

Kristine Hackbarth-Horn

Fox Valley Wave Board President

EMAIL CONTACTS:

REBECCA BLANK, UW Chancellor, [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>

DARRELL BAZZELL, UW Vice Chancellor, [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>

DALE BJORLING, Athletic Board Pres., [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>

BARRY ALVAREZ, Athletic Director, [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>

SHEILA M MCGUIRK, Athletic Board--faculty athletic rep, [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>

NORMAN C FOST, Athletic Board, [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>

MICHELLE GREEN, UW Foundation, Chancellor's Development team, [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>

District Number 3