University of Wisconsin-Madison junior and Madison native Drew teDuits has long been familiar with UW-Madison’s pools. It has been a dream of his to swim in college ever since he began swimming competitively at 9 years old and frequented the Southeast Recreational Facility’s pool in high school.
TeDuits is now living out that dream as a member of the UW-Madison men’s swim team. In March 2013, he became a Big Ten champion, with the third-fastest 200-yard backstroke time in NCAA history. He also holds UW-Madison’s record for 100- and 200-yard backstrokes, according to his UW Athletics profile.
TeDuits is among many who are worried about the future of UW-Madison’s swimming and diving teams’ competitions under the proposed Recreational Sports Facilities Master Plan. The current proposal does not include plans for a competition pool with spectator seating, preventing the Badgers from hosting any competitions on their home turf.
The Master Plan was created by the Division of Recreational Sports in response to outdated facilities that fall short of national standards for fitness areas. If passed by students in a March referendum through the Associated Students of Madison, the plan would renovate or rebuild most campus recreational centers, according to Recreational Sports Director John Horn.
Currently, funding for the plan relies solely on student segregated fees. According to the Office of the Registrar, students currently pay $36.78 per semester toward recreational facilities. If no additional funding sources are secured, segregated fees could increase by $108 per semester, according to Horn, although officials hope the first students to experience the fee hikes would be those reaping the benefits of new facilities.
The Natatorium currently houses a 25-yard pool with 1,200 spectator seats, which allows UW-Madison’s teams to host certain swimming and diving competitions. However, Olympic-sized pools are 50 meters, which means UW-Madison can not host larger events. And while the SERF has a 50-meter practice pool, it does not have seating for competitions.
When the Master Plan was first announced, teDuits said he and other swimmers heard there was a potential for a 50-meter competition pool with seating.
“We were obviously super excited, wanted to get involved, wanted people to vote yes for it,” teDuits said.
When the team learned the plan did not include the competition pool, teDuits was one of many students to jump into action.
Under the current proposal, the Natatorium would have a recreational pool and the SERF would maintain its current pool. Building a new 50-meter competition pool, Horn said, would cost from $23 to $27 million.
Ian Malmstadt, president of the student organization Badgers for Recreational Reform, said Horn met with student leaders in November 2013 to gauge whether they were willing to fund a competition pool with segregated fees. The students were not, according to Malmstadt.
ASM Chair David Gardner said he and other campus leaders hoped UW Athletics would provide funding for the pool. According to Horn, UW Athletics has thus far not committed money to the Master Plan.
“We would like to see Athletics be a major part of this plan,” Gardner said. “We have been in communication with them, Rec Sports has been in communication with them. We are definitely interested in making sure they contribute to this.”
Gardner and teDuits are both part of a larger group of students searching for funding beyond segregated fees. Gardner said students have met with campus administrators to discuss alternative funding sources for the Master Plan overall.
Though Gardner said he is unable to disclose exactly who key players are in possible funding, there is large emphasis on the state.
Gardner said funding could also be received from the state of Wisconsin, adding the original establishment of the SERF was funded solely by state and private dollars.
A large competition pool, according to Gardner, would be an asset to the university and larger community.
“It would help in recruitment, it would help in supporting the economic opportunities for our Rec Sports facilities, and it’s also really a great community thing to have,” Gardner said.
Meanwhile, teDuits said he hopes to continue training in campus facilities and has his eye on the 2016 Olympic trials. He said it would be disappointing to build brand new facilities without a competition pool, which he describes as a benefit to the university.
“We’d be able to get better swimmers and properly train with what we have now,” teDuits said. “We have multiple national team members and hopefully in 2016 we’ll have a few Olympians, and I think … it would just drastically help our situation and everything that we’ve worked for.”
