- Video shows interviews with members of the advocacy group fighting to bring back MSU Swim and Dive, called the Battle for Spartan Swim and Dive
- Oct. 20 marks the three year anniversary of when the MSU swim and dive team was cut from the university, and since then the battle to bring back spartan swim and dive has been relentless, and the fight is still underway
- “Now that their building a pool, which in itself solves the reason for the program cut, they’ve come up with a lot of other reasons to not re-instate the team. When they realized they were building a pool, which solved the reason for our cut, they kept moving the goal posts on us," explained Battle for Spartan Swim and Dive team member, Mike Balow.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Oct. 20 of 2023 marks the three-year anniversary since the MSU swim and dive team was cut, and since then, the battle to bring back spartan swim and dive has been relentless.
Back in Oct. 2020, MSU swim and dive was notified by the university’s then Athletic Director, Bill Beekman, that both the men and women’s teams would be cut.
Following the cut, The advocacy group, Battle for Spartan Swim and Dive started their efforts in working with MSU to try to bring back the team.
The group says they were initially tasked by the university with raising 6.5 million dollars to fund half of the operating expenses for the team for the next five years, and say they were told by MSU officials that as long as the soon to be student wellness and recreation center pool was approved, there would be a solution to bring back the team.
“Now that their building a pool, which in itself solves the reason for the program cut, they’ve come up with a lot of other reasons to not re-instate the team. When they realized they were building a pool, which solved the reason for our cut, they kept moving the goal posts on us," explained Battle for Spartan Swim and Dive team member, Mike Balow.
As of June this year, according to a letter delivered by MSU Interim President Theresa Woodruff, those goal posts changed from needing 6.5 million to reinstate the team, to an additional, “20 million dollars to build the very best best pool, and if we didn’t get that we were going to be killed again," said Balow.
The letter from Interim President Woodruff states that the new 2o million dollar goal is, “To fund the additional infrastructure needed to create a competitive intercollegiate athletic swim and dive facility".
But, some members of spartan swim and dive suggest that that 26.5 million dollars, “Doesn’t actually reflect the cost of a facility you need to run a program. There is nothing that would stop them from building a very competitive program in that facility as it is being constructed today" explained Battle for Spartan Swim and Dive member, Tom Munley.
We reached out to the university for comment, and received the following response:
“As of the Oct. 1 deadline that the university communicated to the advocates in June, the advocates had raised approximately $5 million of the needed $26.5 million that would support the operational costs of the program for the first five years as well as additional funds necessary to expand the budgeted plans for a recreational pool into a competitive aquatic facility that supports a varsity level program, including team lockers, coaching staff offices, etc.
The university is moving forward with the plans outlined in June for our student recreation center and wellness center to include a pool that supports the recreational needs of our campus community.”
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