To the Editor:
As a College swim/dive parent, I was stunned by The Dartmouth's last editorial ("If You Want to Dive, Dive Head First," Jan. 26). The program faces hurdles that no other athletic program at Dartmouth has endured. These include a recent administration attempt to end the program, no college money for the program, arguably the worst facilities that any Dartmouth Division-1 team sport must tolerate and inarguably the worst aquatic facilities in the Ivy League and among the worst in D-1 swimming.
The program has faced challenges, but not because of the coaches or student-athletes. The College has made it impossible for the program to succeed. Stellar student-athletes well qualified for admission with high school credentials well above Dartmouth medians have not been admitted, while Harvard and Princeton have been more than happy to take them.
How can you ask coaches to recruit solid athletes when they cannot promise the program will even exist, when all they see is neglect from the president, the athletic director, the admissions office and open hostility from the student newspaper?
Add to that the administration's decision to close the pool off and on for a good part of the last three years. It's hard to run a program when you can't get into the water or have to drive halfway across New Hampshire to find a place to practice.
Dartmouth athletics are not about winning or losing; hard work, dedication, competitive spirit and character building are.
