I am writing in response to the recent college announcement to discontinue the Men's and Women's Swimming teams in the hope you will pass this along to President Wright.

        I am dismayed and disturbed at what is a severe reaction to the recent 5.7% loss in the endowment.  We have just gone through a record bear market within normal cycles.  To make a decision that is, in all likelihood, irreversible during the "down" part of a cycle is short-sighted and compromises the future of an institution like Dartmouth which strives to be considered one of top handful of institutions in the world.  When the endowment posts a 5.7% gain in the next year or two, will the program be restored?

        I am not sure where to begin, so I will just jump in with both feet.  The issue cannot be the annual budget of $211,000, since at least during this downturn, it could most likely be funded externally.  I was on the crew team which I know is only partially funded by the college and raises a good portion of its budget through alumni donations.  As far as the absolute cost goes, I would venture to say that the ratio of the budget ($211,000) to the number of athletes (53) for the swim teams is probably one of the lower ones for any team at the school.

        If the issue is that the teams are not competitive, then that excuse could be used for eliminating half the teams at Dartmouth including the revenue producers.  The swim team has a long, very successful history at Dartmouth which includes a nationally ranked team when I was there, and has produced numerous All-Americans over this history.  It is still attracting swimmers among the top competitors in the East with national qualifying potential.

        If the issue is the almost 40-year old facility and ultimately having to replace it at a cost of $20 million, maybe we have hit the crux of the matter.  There is no gun to Dartmouth's head to replace this facility now, or next year, or the year after.  That seems to be a fashionable excuse many universities have used to cut their swimming programs.  During the next capital drive, the Board of Trustees will be forced to look at many alternative projects to prioritize, this could be one of them.  On the athletics side, the new gym and previously the hockey rink were priorities.  More recently the library was a priority.  Before that, dorms and classrooms were built to accommodate the growth from 3200 to 4000 undergraduates.  This is all part of the challenge and process of maintaining and growing a world-class institution.  Princeton, for one, has recently built a top swimming facility, just prior to a massive renovation of its football stadium.  It has managed to upgrade its other athletic facilities as well.

        To blame the current pool for a lack of competitiveness has limited merit.  There are a few 50 meter pools in the Ivy League, but with the exception of Princeton's, they are not particularly fast.  Many of the Ivies are in the same position as Dartmouth, they do not have a 50 meter pool, yet they are not withdrawing from competition.  It is a challenge to overcome.  I have had conversations for the past several years with Columbia's coach, who is a friend of mine, about the facility question, and while he agrees that it may have an impact on some swimmers, it has just meant that he has to recruit harder and coach better.  Columbia's pool is the same age as Dartmouth's, and not as good, yet Columbia will be very competitive in the East this year, most likely finishing right behind Princeton and Harvard.  If facilities alone were the issue, Columbia never would have attracted Cristina Teuscher as a student-athlete (Cristina medalled in both the 1996 and 2000 Olympics and was the NCAA Athlete of the Year two years ago).

        Let's address the issue of the students- current and future.  Somehow with a non-competitive program, there are 53 student athletes on the teams.  These are 53 students Dartmouth WANTED, and who WANTED Dartmouth.  53 among the thousands who wanted to come to Dartmouth, but in most cases Dartmouth turned down as not being qualified, but these 53 were.  They would, most likely, not  have applied to Dartmouth had there not been swim teams.  What will they do now?  There are 44 underclassmen and women.  One, the top butterflyer on the men's team, is from our home town, and met my wife this summer where he was working.  He is a tremendous kid, and we are wondering what he will do.  A friend's son is the captain of his prep school team, star of his school's plays, and a great kid, and was going to apply to Dartmouth as his first choice. I wonder what he will do now.  

        As for the future students, I look at a long-range problem closer to home.  My wife is a world-record holding masters swimmer.  We have five year old triplets who we are easing (not pushing) into swimming, but they absolutely adore it.  It is not too far-fetched to believe at least one will be a competitive swimmer.  As much as they loved "Daddy's College" at my recent reunion, if they swim competively, they will have no choice to apply to Dartmouth to continue swimming.  Then again, having swim team on a high-school resume would mean nothing to a school without swim teams.

        While I understand that decisions like this are painful to make, the thought that cutting out two varsity teams will make athletics stronger is an argument that only works for pruning trees or shrubs.  Amputation is never an alternative if therapy or surgery could suffice.  You usually try to maintain the whole unless there is a disease that risks destroying an entity.  This is certainly not the case.  What ails the college right now is temporary and this "solution" is permanent.  I am asking you and the Board to reconsider this decision.

        Thanks for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,


Jon Einsidler
Class President, 1972