Construction on the Karl Michael Pool was set to begin on April 1, but has since been delayed. It is not yet clear when exactly it will start and when exactly it is going to be finished, but in the meantime, Big Green athletes are growing concerned.
During the time of the renovation, all teams will have to use the four-lane Spaulding Pool, and they are not happy.
"The smaller pool is definitely going to affect our workouts. Hopefully water polo won't be practicing at midnight, but you never know. Club teams don't exactly have priority," commented Lindsey Pryor '05, co-captain of the women's water polo team.
"Without a full-size pool," Pryor continued, "we won't even be able to scrimmage or simulate game situations, which is going to hurt, considering we are going to the national tournament in Texas in less than three weeks. Really scary."
Shane Foster '07, a member of the men's water polo team was also concerned with the practice times.
"I think it could seriously hinder the number of athletes for polo because there are rumors that practices will have to be moved from 10 p.m. to [midnight] each night. I can't see as many people being able to do those times."
However, having a small facility to practice is still better than having no facility at all, as the diving team found out.
"The divers have it even worse than anyone else," said Alex Bochicchio '05, co-captain of the women's swimming team. "The back pool is too shallow to dive, so they will need to relocate to another pool, and I don't think there is a three-meter diving board anywhere around here," she added.
Of course, this is not the first time that Big Green swimmers have dealt with crisis. Two years ago, the College's administration chose to eliminate the swim team in an effort reduce the overall budget. If not for the student uproar that ensued, Dartmouth would have lost one of its oldest athletic programs.
However, simply because the swim team weathered one crisis does not mean the newest one is any easier to bear.
"There is no way we can get a good practice in when about 25 girls, specializing in different strokes, are crammed into four lanes," complained Bochicchio. "Usually distance swimmers utilize the tunnel [50 meters], and the girls break up into specific stroke groups; we will be unable to do these things with just four lanes."
"The small pool, which is about 85 years old, is too small to handle 15 swimmers, let alone 30," added Sean Robinson '05, co-captain of the men's swimming team. "It will not be able to accommodate the team's needs without some sort of compromise in the training schedule."
However, despite all the inconveniences, the athletes would still be happy if only the reconstruction meant some benefit for Dartmouth's aquatic teams. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
The renovation of the pool, which is part of the $7.5 million planned restructuring of Alumni Gym, only involves the installation of a dehumidifier and a replacement to the roof. The actual pool will not be improved and will remain the worst in the Ivy League.
"The renovation will obviously be good for the gym as a whole, but I see no added benefit to the swimming and diving teams," confessed Bochicchio. "They are merely putting in an air system and 'have to' shut down the pool for six months to do it. So, I guess that means that we are only losing."
"I haven't been told when they'll be starting. Soon I hope," said men's swimming and water polo coach Jim Wilson. "I'm only the swimming coach and have no idea why it's been delayed. The last I heard, an end date for the renovation and getting the Karl Michael Pool up and running was sometime in February."
Unfortunately, until that time in February 2006, the teams can do nothing but wait, which does little to assuage the feeling of helplessness.
"It's not like we have a lot of options at this point," Pryor admitted. "But then I think about the swim team and how much they have been through. They deserve better than this. Dartmouth can do better."
