Michigan State Board of Trustees chair Rema Vassar said there’s a “window of opportunity” for the Spartans’ swimming and diving teams to be reinstated after university voted Friday to approve plans for a $200 million recreation center that includes a 50-meter pool.
The show of administrative support comes just six months after an MSU board trustee said the university did not see a viable path to bringing the program back.
“It’s a massive step forward to have the public support of the university,” former swimmer David Habel told The Detroit News. “It’s something we haven’t had since well before October 2020. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we’re ready. We haven’t stopped in three years, and we’re not stopping now.”
When former athletic director Bill Beekman announced the cuts of the men’s and women’s swimming and diving squads in October of 2020, he noted their operating costs (around $2 million annually) and subpar facilities as the main reasons for the decision. Now that the latter issue has been addressed, the only obstacle seemingly in the way of reinstatement is fundraising.
Not only is MSU asking the Battle for Spartan Swim and Dive advocacy group to raise $6.5 million to help cover operating expenses over the next five years, but the university is also requesting between $5 and $20 million for pool upgrades to make the aquatic facility competitive at the Power Five level. Battle for Spartan Swim and Dive is closing in on its goal for operating expenses, with $5.2 million pledged so far.
Last summer, Battle for Spartan Swim and Dive said it secured $8.5 million from two anonymous donors, but those donations are estate bequests and endowments that are not eligible to fund operating expenses. The group is still negotiating with MSU about whether those prospective funds could be used to finance pool upgrades. Battle for Spartan Swim and Dive is also still waiting on confirmation from university officials about their timeline for meeting the latest fundraising goals.
“The Battle team agrees that MSU should build the best facility possible, and we will work to support that effort and look forward to more conversations in the coming months,” Battle for Spartan Swim and Dive said in a statement. “The evidence is clear that building and improving aquatic facilities often parlays into increased performance by college programs, including the drastic turnaround of the Ohio State swim and dive teams following their facility’s opening in 2005… The funding of a top-tier pool and the return of the Michigan State men’s and women’s swim and dive teams would be a victory for not only MSU, but for the tens of thousands of swimmers, divers, water polo players, and others who have long deserved access to a quality facility.”
Construction on MSU’s new $200 million recreation center will begin next month, and the facility is expected to be ready around February of 2026. It will be funded with a tax of $80 per year on students, which was opposed by the graduate student liaison to the board. The student recreational facility fee started at $100 in 2021 and has already increased to $260 annually to help fund the construction of the Spartan Green Turf Complex that opened last October. Another recent graduate spoke out against the plans because they include fewer multi-purpose courts than currently exist in IM West.
Every MSU board trustee approved the proposal except for Dennis Denno, who questioned why the university was putting Battle for Spartan Swim and Dive on the hook for an estimated total of $26 million in funding.
“We as trustees had four different options presented to us and we picked the smallest or lowest cost one and I’m just kind of frustrated with that, in the sense of I think Michigan State University students deserve better − I think we can do better,” Denno said. “This administration always finds funding for their pet projects, and I just kind of wish we could take a step back and see if we can find funding on this. I’m also frustrated that we’ve gone to the former swim and dive team and their supporters and asked them approximately $26 million to fund this.”
MSU is soon set to receive a lot more revenue thanks to the Big Ten’s new media rights deal worth more than $1 million annually. Member schools are projected to eventually receive $100 million a year, nearly double the $54.3 million paid out during the most recent fiscal year (2019-20) not impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In January, MSU reached a settlement with 11 former members of the women’s swim team, which stopped short of guaranteeing reinstatement but did provide several Title IX protections for the future. Last August, MSU was found to have violated Title IX by cutting the Spartans’ swim and dive program, and the university’s appeal to the Supreme Court was rejected in December.
As a former Big Ten swimmer, it continues to amaze me that THE POWERS THAT BE continue to create “new excuses” to prevent the return of the MSU SW/DI teams!
McCaffree Pool, built in the 1960’s, was a “state of the art” facility. It is limited by having ONLY SIX 25yd LANES. But, it was, and, continues to be a starting point.
Finally, I feel that the “Beekman ideal” continues to this day. MSU does not want to reinstate the program. How ridiculous!
💚🤍📈💥⚔️👍🏼‼️