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The CU swimming pool - sorry if Germans
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The CU swimming pool - sorry if Germans


Jun 13, 2019, 4:42 PM

My daughter swims with the club team, and was just notified that the pool will be closed in August pending a "feasibility study".The email contained a lot of information about the politics involved. It sounds like there is no appetite in the administration to maintain the pool operations or invest any funds for upgrades. Regardless of you position on swimming, the pool is utilized by a number of clubs (water polo, kayak, etc), and I don't think we want to become the only school in the ACC without an aquatic facility. There are some petitions, a go fund page, etc. Anyone know anything ? Any opinions out there ? It is a decent facility for its current purpose, and I think it would be a shame to abandon it at this point.

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You just wait till 1972 Tiger sees this


Jun 13, 2019, 4:47 PM

And tells your little "snowflake" to jump in a lake (my son is on the Club Swim team, too)

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Re: The CU swimming pool - sorry if Germans


Jun 13, 2019, 5:00 PM

From: CLUB SWIMMING
Date: June 12, 2019 at 6:23:52 PM EDT
To: CU_SWIMCLUB-L@LISTS.CLEMSON.EDU
Subject: The Pool is Closing. We need your help. Here's the story.
Reply-To: CLUB SWIMMING

Teammates,

I’m sure some of you have already heard the bad news, but here it is from me in case you haven’t. The pool is closing on August 1st, 2019. Currently, there are no current plans to have a pool at all on Clemson University’s campus. The board and I have been working very hard to not panic and to keep all of our options in mind. Let me give you a timeline of how ridiculous this is:

***
Over the weekend, I received an email chain that was forwarded to me by the president of Clemson Aquatic Team (CAT) saying that the Fike pool would be closed on August 1st, 2019 for an unknown amount of time, but at least one semester. During this time, there will be a “Feasibility Study” to determine if the pool should be renovated and reopened, or if the pool should be filled in and converted into another space. At this point, when I was first hearing about it, it was already confirmed to be happening and marked as “official.”

On Monday, I called Mary Todd from Fike, who usually helps us organize our home meet and is an angel in general. She knew nothing about it and said that Chris Cox, our Club Sports Director, also didn’t know anything about it. Turns out, he did know everything but wanted to “make sure (he) had correct information before sharing this week.” No answers there, so I did some research and decided to go straight to the top (or as close as I could get). I called Dr. George Smith, 4th or so in command under President Clements. I found out that this was not a decision made by Fike, but by the University (David Frock), which means that Fike doesn’t really have a say in it. I explained to him how crazy it would be to just not have a pool at Clemson University, he seemed to agree to shut me up, and that was that.

On Tuesday, the board and I decided to ask Logan Young, our Student Body President, for help. She was on our team a few years ago, and she was very willing to help. She set up a meeting with David Frock, the guy who apparently decided that this was all okay, as well as George Smith. Scott and I were invited to the meeting, which would take place Wednesday. Later on that day, I met with Big Show, the head coach of CAT and the guy that helps us run our home meets. This is some of his opinion:

This is not about money, this is not about the pool, and this is not about the students. Someone way higher up at Clemson is tired of dealing with the pool, so they felt like getting rid of it under the guise of it having maintenance issues, which is always has. When the division swim team was cut, lots of the exact same things that are going on right now went on then. The lady whose name is on the giant scoreboard flew down to Clemson in her private jet, slapped a checkbook on some important guy’s desk, gave him a pen, and said something like “Write the number that it will take to keep the team." The guy said that they weren’t interested. She left and turned her back on Clemson ever since that day. It is not about money; Clemson has plenty of that. It’s not about the pool; it’s always had minor problems. It’s not about the students; they don’t care about the students nearly as much as they claim to. If they close the pool, it will not reopen because somebody up top simply doesn’t want to deal with it anymore.

On Wednesday, David Frock cancelled at the last second, and the meeting time/location was even sporadically changed. Luckily, Scott, Logan, and I were all still able to attend. After an hour of me yelling at Dr. Smith and making points like how so many people rely on this pool, we would be the only ACC college without a pool, etc., Scott and Logan backing me up consistently, he countered with the same arguments throughout the meeting. They are:

The feasibility study will give them data somehow and let them know if the pool is a necessity. If it is, they will renovate and within a few semesters or few years, things would be back to normal. If the study determines that it is not a necessity, that space will be converted. When I asked him how this was fair to all students if you’re just screwing over pool users and probably not replacing it, he replied by telling me that other students may need that space more. We went back and forth on this for a while. Another point he made was that major construction like this takes time, to which I told him that I knew they would just wait so long that not having a pool at Clemson would seem normal, and the resistance would die down. Smith is not very happy with me.

On Thursday, I am meeting with Chris Cox to see if Club Sports can help us find another pool, how we will pay for it, etc. We were already cut short of funds this year by the Student Government (all clubs were), so the board and I will be trying our best to request more money from the school since we are getting screwed over.
***

I will be trying to schedule more meetings that involve David Frock and Logan Young, but that’s all that’s planned for right now. Two years ago, Scott actually emailed David Frock about the sauna being built and taking up too much space. Frock responded with a lengthy email that concluded by saying, "Our role at Clemson is to provide as many recreational, healthy amenities as possible across the spectrum of our participants. … We are 100% in support of the Club swim team and will work with the leadership of the team to make sure the events continue without issues.”

I love Clemson, but unfortunately, this doesn’t sound so accurate to me anymore. It blows my mind that the Student Body President, supposedly the collective voice of all students of Clemson University, got shut down right alongside me, over a matter that directly involves the students that they so deeply care about. If they won’t listen to her, we will need to adapt and do something big.



Our main goal regarding the future of a pool in Clemson is to get the support of all current students and alumni. We need to stress that the reason for keeping a pool on campus is for all Clemson students, not just our team. Here’s a list of groups who use the pool: Club Swimming, Club Water Polo, Club Triathlon, Scuba classes, Kayaking classes, Intramurals, CAT, Clemson LIFE, CPR and Lifeguard Certification courses, Aquatic Fitness classes, local diving club, ROTC Training, Physical Therapy, Tiger Shark Swim Lessons, and the hundreds of students and faculty who use the pool for general fitness.

If you and/or your parents would like to contact the school about this terrible situation, please call or email Dr. George Smith at (864)-656-2161 and smithg@clemson.edu and/or email David Frock at dfrock@clemson.edu. If anybody knows anybody that has any connections in Clemson’s administration, feel free to try to get them to support the student population and contact us. We have made a Change.org petition regarding this issue, so please share this link around: http://chng.it/QvMxs5Cfhc

We are all very upset about this; it looks like the decision has already been made, but we will keep fighting. There are a lot of unknowns surrounding this situation, but as an executive board, we are working to get answers as to where we will be swimming in the fall. We will be working to try to find pool space in the surrounding areas, and we need more funds to rent space when we find somewhere.

We have started a GoFundMe to help raise funds. Please share this link as well: https://www.gofundme.com/help-clemson-just-keep-swimming

Click here to support Help Clemson Just Keep Swimming organized by Clemson Club Swim Team
www.gofundme.com
Clemson University has unfortunately made the decision to close the Fike Recreation pool indefinitely on 7/31/2019 for a safety/feasibility study. The University says that the decision of having a pool on campus will be based on the outcome of the feasibility study. Currently, there are no future...



You can take the pool away from the swimmers, but you can’t take the swimmers away from the pool! We will keep you all updated throughout this process as we gather more information. Regardless of this, we hope you all are having a great summer, and we can’t wait to see you back in the fall.

Sincerely,
Your 2019 Clemson Club Swimming Executive Board

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Re: The CU swimming pool - sorry if Germans


Jun 13, 2019, 9:54 PM

Man I hate to hear this and will be donating to the go fund page I think it is ridiculous that it has to come to this though with a university every year raising tuition and now we will be the only University without a poo in the ACC hell probably the only one in the State now that is a disgrace. Best of luck with trying to keep it open I hope the dirtbag that wants to get rid of the pool gets what is coming to him someday.

While I love our major sports that bring in money I also think it is necessary to have things like a pool and Swimming team to become a well-rounded university if it ain't the money and just headaches the guy does not want to deal with then step aside go to the retirement home and let someone else take over his position. Again Best of Luck with the Fund and keeping the pool open

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Re: The CU swimming pool - sorry if Germans


Jun 13, 2019, 11:04 PM [ in reply to Re: The CU swimming pool - sorry if Germans ]

What needs to happen is to identify the person that made the decision to get rid of the pool and make it public. This is completely ridiculous.

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My letter of support sent to both men...


Jun 13, 2019, 11:44 PM [ in reply to Re: The CU swimming pool - sorry if Germans ]

Greetings-
My name is Dr. Ken Pittman and I am a Clemson Biochem grad from 2002 and currently a Child Psychiatrist and Co-Owner of Agape Youth Behavioral Health in Chattanooga, TN. I also regularly donate to both the Clemson Fund and IPTAY.

I'm writing today due to concerns about Clemson becoming one of the few major universities in the Southeast without a pool facility (if there is even 1 other one). As a physician, I know that swimming is one of the best activities for both physical and mental health. The Clemson students deserve a first-class pool facility. I recognize, along with others, that the Fike pool is inadequate. It's better than nothing, but it's inadequate. However, I think closing it without its replacement being opened is a disservice to students. We all know that closing it for a feasibility study is a step towards closing it permanently. You could easily do a feasibility study without closing the pool if you intended to keep it open.

In Chattanooga, the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga has a first-class pool facility. It is used by not only students, but also the community as a whole. It's embarrassing enough that Clemson's facility is light-years behind UTC's. Closing it and not even having one is just plain foolish. Instead, we need to come together and open a state-of-the-art top-notch pool facility that both the University and community can be proud of. There are plenty of donors who would step up for this. Money is simply not the issue. If urban campuses can do it, there's no reason that space in Clemson should be the issue either. The issue is clearly whether or not the health and well-being of students is important enough to those making the decisions. I strongly encourage you to stand firmly on the side that it is. Please keep the Fike pool open for now and instead of spending the money on a useless feasability study, spend it on the planning of a new state-of-the-art natatorium for Clemson as well as a meaningful planning of the re-use of the Fike space once the new natatorum is built.

Sincerely,
Ken Pittman, MD
Clemson Biochemistry '02
Quillen College of Medicine '06
Board Certified in Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Adult Psychiatry
Co-Owner Agape Youth Behavioral Health

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Good Luck!


Jun 13, 2019, 7:59 PM

At least one very prominent Clemson booster was on the Clemson Swimming Team when it was a varsity sport.

He made a valiant effort to keep the swim team viable and build a new swim facility - all for naught!

He remains a big supporter of Clemson, particularly basketball.

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null


Re: Good Luck!


Jun 13, 2019, 8:45 PM

I wish I could provide the amount needed to build a new pool for Clemson students, but unfortunately I can’t donate that much. I would happily contribute to a fund raising effort supported by the university administration. I’m proud of Clemson supporters for donating $7 million to build a chapel on campus for students and university personnel. A chapel has been a need that has finally been addressed.

If the university administration would plan a new pool, sanction a fund raising effort and vigorously try to raise the needed funds for a pool I believe Clemson supporters would respond favorably and contribute the needed money just as they did to build a chapel.

Success depends on the commitment of the university president and the board of trustees to the Clemson students and the Clemson community at large.

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So we can build a 55 million dollar football facility but we


Jun 13, 2019, 8:58 PM

Can’t keep a pool. I am the only one embarrassed that we’ll be the only ACC school without one?

Even lil old Wake Forest has one. I bet if Dabo wanted one he’d get it.

What’s up with these bureaucratic dipwads?


Edit: looks like i triggered the government working dipwad. Thanks for the TD

Message was edited by: TigerDominance®

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and they keep adding luxury style housing on campus


Jun 13, 2019, 9:46 PM

There's not a shortage of money. I can't believe that pool upkeep is that much. It's not like the Fike is world class or anything.

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Take away the wifi or "suite style" housing and see what


Jun 14, 2019, 11:12 AM

happens...LOL

100% spot on!

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Re: So we can build a 55 million dollar football facility but we


Jun 13, 2019, 9:56 PM [ in reply to So we can build a 55 million dollar football facility but we ]

Hell even little old Erskine College has a pool last time I checked

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Re: So we can build a 55 million dollar football facility but we


Jun 13, 2019, 9:56 PM [ in reply to So we can build a 55 million dollar football facility but we ]

Heck even little old Erskine College has a pool last time I checked

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Half of the HOA’s in five forks have a pool. It’s really not


Jun 13, 2019, 10:15 PM

That crazy of an expense. I bet a large percentage of colleges have them.

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Re: So we can build a 55 million dollar football facility but we


Jun 13, 2019, 10:47 PM [ in reply to Re: So we can build a 55 million dollar football facility but we ]

When the Fike natatorium was first built and opened (which I watched while under construction), I participated in an intramural water polo team - we called ourselves the "Cone Heads"(if that gives you any idea of the time I'm talking about!) I'm sorry I no longer have the photograph of our team that took 2nd place at the end of the season, but those were good times, and the Clemson swimming team was doing really well in the conference and nationally (and our diving team). When I started at Clemson, Fike Field House was little more than the original basketball court with athletic administration offices (I met Banks McFadden there one time...), but the natatorium was a wonderful addition to the campus facilities and available to all. I'll do all I can to help keep our "pool" in place.

Go Tigers!!!

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In fairness...


Jun 14, 2019, 9:23 AM [ in reply to So we can build a 55 million dollar football facility but we ]

Swimming doesn't generate nearly the revenue or the national recognition the football program does.

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Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.


I totally get that but neither does rowing, softball, etc.***


Jun 14, 2019, 11:31 AM



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Re: The CU swimming pool - sorry if Germans


Jun 13, 2019, 10:42 PM

Someone wants the building. Our swim teams featured some of the finest student-athletes to ever attend Clemson. We could have built by the Old Y beach when they dropped the two sports. Could have paid for itself combining with Oconee hospital cardiac care, swim clubs and hosting swim meets. Think of the number of retirees in a 20-mile radius that would use a pool. It is unfathomable that a major university can’t offer a pool. Again someone wants the building and the university does not want to explain.

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exactly, this doens't add up to me..***


Jun 14, 2019, 3:04 AM



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Wasn't this the reason...


Jun 14, 2019, 9:18 AM

the swimming and diving program was discontinued; the University had no real desire to maintain the facility or invest any money for upgrades.

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Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.


Re: The CU swimming pool - sorry if Germans


Jun 14, 2019, 10:48 AM

Kind of blows my mind that the school struggles to fund things like this considering tuition has increased 50%+ for out of state since 2009 alone. Not sure why pensions are still a thing

https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2019/05/31/sc-clemson-university-college-tuition-steady-in-state-after-trustees-vote/1284144001/

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