Bill provides new hope for pool

For the past four years, Husky swimmer Cameron Barclift has been working hard to represent Washington. Every morning at 6:30, he goes to practice at the Pavilion Pool -- which he calls a "bathtub"-- to train in order to win for the UW, even though he said the school does not fully back the team.

"They will spend one million on an IMA field, but the school won't drop a dime into a new pool," he said.

Barclift is among many swimmers and coaches who have been fighting long and hard for an update to the facility, which has not been upgraded since 1939.

New hope

When Senate Bill 5025 was dropped into this legislative session in Olympia, the team was given hope they have not had since 2003, when the same bill made it to the floor of the Senate and died there.

The legislation proposes allocating up to $10 million for a new Husky swimming facility, to be met with matching funds from the UW. The facility originally would have cost $18 million, but because of difficulties acquiring funding, new plans for a "scaled back" version that would cost $10.8 million have been drawn, according to swim coach Mickey Wender.

"I just resurrected the old bill," said co-sponsor Sen. Ken Jacobsen, D-Seattle, a UW alumnus. "The situation is the same. The swimming pool bill hasn't made a lot of progress since [2003] and I thought there might be more support now that the team is really doing well. We need a pool that is worthy of the team."

The women's swim team is ranked 24th in the nation, despite losing an automatic 32 points at each meet as a penalty for not having a diving team. The team forfeits those 32 points not because they don't want to dive, but because the UW has no diving facility available for them to practice in, explained senior Abby Hutton, a member of the swim team.

The new structure would contain proper facilities for diving and an eight lane, 50-meter pool, the size necessary to compete at national and Olympic levels. The facility would be a large improvement from the "cramped" six-lane, 25-yard pool, said Hutton.

The UW is the only school in the Pac-10 conference without a 50-meter pool that has both men's and women's swim teams, according to Barclift.

"Once [the facility is] built, the team could actually get up to being one of the best in the country, and compete with the rest of the teams in the top 10," said senior swim team member Kevin Quinn.

'Not a priority'

No matter whether the UW would like to grant the team's wishes, the budget is tight and swimming is not a top priority, according to Randy Hodgins, state lobbyist and director of UW state relations.

"We love swimming," said Hodgins. "But at the present time this is not an institutional priority. We don't have the funding set aside right now."

Hodgins doubted the bill would be successful because the Legislature would be hesitant to put aside "precious capital dollars" for something the UW has not identified as a funding priority, he said.

The athletic department is developing a master plan for the new projects they would like to take on, now that previous priorities, including Bank of America Arena, Dempsey Indoor and the Conibear Crew House, have been completed.

The crew house alone cost $18.6 million, according to Ken Winstead, the associate athletic director for fund development.

The new master plan will discuss a proposed stadium for baseball and soccer, the renovation of Husky Stadium and the Graves Annex, and the swimming pool, said Winstead, adding that the main priorities will be Husky Stadium and the Graves building.

Retaining the best

The team would be able to run more efficiently in practices and recruit better swimmers if it had an upgraded facility, according to assistant swim coach Joe Dykstra.

"It would do so much for us ... in terms of how we would be able to train," he said. "Right now the team is split up into three different parts and that means six hours of deck time."

Barclift said the new pool's size would allow the team to practice together and would cut their practice times down to three and a half hours.

The facility is the only thing holding the Huskies back from being able to recruit the "highest caliber" athletes with "lofty" goals of competing internationally, said Dykstra.

"When recruits come in they love our team and they love our coaches, it is really just the facility," said Quinn. "The response is 'everything is great, but I want a bigger pool.'"

According to Barclift, a 50-meter pool is necessary for swimmers who wish to train for events like Nationals or the Olympic trials. It would be nearly impossible for a swimmer to go to the Olympic trials without training in an Olympic-size pool, Barclift said.

"A bunch of Olympic swimmers have come out of Washington State," he said. "Some thought about coming to this school, but we don't have a 50-meter pool."

According to Wender, a new swim facility would benefit more than just the swim team.

"It is an absolute crime that a major metropolitan city surrounded by water doesn't have a modern swim facility," he said, adding that the nicest pool in the Seattle area is in Federal Way.

"This is not just for the UW swim program," he said. "It is for the entire University community and the city of Seattle."

Wait and watch

Wender is dubious of the progress the bill will make because of the state's long-standing tradition of not funding athletic programs with State funds.

"Because the Senate bill will provide matching funds, the University would have to decide if they want it on their campus, even though we would not be asking them to fund it entirely," said Wender. Fundraising efforts would subsidize the cost of the new facility, he added.

The bill was referred to the Natural Resources, Ocean and Recreation committee, which Jacobsen chairs. It was heard on Jan. 10 and has yet to be scheduled for a second reading.