Dartmouth Cuts Swimming

November 25, 2002 - HANOVER, N.H. - Dartmouth College will eliminate its varsity swimming and diving programs after the current season ends to achieve necessary budget cuts, college officials said Monday.

The cuts will save the athletics department $212,000 annually, officials at the Ivy League school said. The department faces a $260,000 reduction in its $10.8 million annual operating budget, on top of earlier budget cuts.

Fifty-three student athletes are on the Division I teams, but nine will graduate before the cuts take effect, Dartmouth officials said.

Three full-time coaches and a part-time coach also will lose their jobs, college officials said. The full-time coaches will be paid through the end of the school year and will get severance packages that include job counseling.

The elimination of the swimming and diving programs was announced earlier than some other budget cuts so current and prospective students can ''consider their options,'' said athletic director JoAnn Harper.

''We recognize the hardship this places on our coaches and students, and we are fully prepared to assist them in any way we can,'' Harper said.

Dartmouth said the cuts were part of college-wide budget reductions totaling $4.9 million for fiscal 2003 and $5.7 million for fiscal 2004. The cuts are necessary because of a net investment loss of 5.7 percent on Dartmouth's endowment last year, college officials said in a statement.

Dartmouth will continue to offer 32 varsity sports involving 900 student athletes, a high number for a Division I school, officials said.

''We have determined that it is better to eliminate one program than to ask all of our other intercollegiate teams to make sacrifices in their programs,'' Harper said.

One of the main reasons for eliminating swimming and diving was that the college's pool is now considered substandard for Division I competition. Bringing it up to standard would have require an investment of $20 million or more and the possible relocation of other athletic facilities, she said.

College President James Wright said he was disappointed the current economic downturn forced Dartmouth to make such decisions.

''I particularly regret the impact on our students and coaches,'' he said. ''However, times like this require us to set priorities, and we must make some hard choices.''