RE: W&M Swim Team
October 22, 2019
Dear W&M Swimming Community,
Last week, a number of you reached out to share concerns about our swimming program’s ability to thrive within W&M Athletics strategic plan, Tribe 2025. We very much appreciate you expressing those concerns directly with us. We address them below to provide a better shared understanding of the current resource base that we hope to bolster moving forward.
To start with, nothing has changed for the swimming program or our support of it. Tribe 2025 does clarify W&M Athletics’ commitment to reaching NCAA championship competition and succeeding there. It also focuses new efforts on promoting the programs most capable of boosting school spirit, national recognition and generating revenue – all of which lifts the university and entire athletics program.
As an NCAA Division I member, our aspiration to boldly pursue excellence in competition goes beyond local success and into competitive national success. We want our students to aspire to and meet great challenges in athletics just as they do in the classroom. We want them to do so while maintaining high standards of academic achievement, respect and integrity.
W&M Athletics Tribe 2025, p. 5
We are on the same page regarding the track record of W&M Swimming: the program has enjoyed great success in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). The men claimed their fifth consecutive CAA championship in 2019, regularly besting their four opponents by a wide margin. The women finished second the last two years after winning consecutive CAA championships in 2016 and 2017. That conference success has also provided opportunities on the national stage, most recently by Katie Radloff '10, the only W&M women’s swimmer ever to qualify for the NCAA championship meet. Four men’s swimmers, most recently Shawn McLane '86, have qualified for the NCAA championship meet during the program’s history.
Beyond its competitive achievements, W&M Swimming rightfully takes great pride in its student-athletes’ high standards of academic achievement, respect and integrity. The men’s team won the 2018-19 CAA Team Academic Excellence Award, one of only two teams to win the conference championship while earning that academic recognition. Claire Williams’19 was the CAA Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2018-19 as well as one of two Phi Beta Kappa initiates alongside teammate Nina Lesser ’19. Both the men’s and women’s teams earned NCAA
William & Mary Athletics
Public Recognition Awards in 2019 for ranking in the top 10% nationally in Academic Progress Rating (APR), the third consecutive honor for the men and fifth for the women.
As we approach our aspiration to boldly pursue excellence that translates into success nationally at the NCAA Division I level, it’s clear that W&M Swimming needs enhanced resources. We have been pursuing these resources for some time, and within Tribe 2025 have recommitted ourselves to that pursuit – as well as to shared responsibility alongside the W&M Swimming community for the results. The updates below address questions posed about facilities, operating resources and scholarships.
The passion of the W&M Swimming community is clear. The accomplishments of the program are remarkable, its student-athletes and coaches deserving of greater support. We believe the alumni and friends of W&M Swimming are up to the challenge to leave the program in a better position than they found it – a responsibility we share together.
Thanks, as always, for your continuing support as well as willingness to consider how even more might be done.
Go Tribe!
Samantha K. Huge Nate Kellogg
William & Mary Athletics
Facilities
As you know, there is no dedicated varsity swimming facility at William & Mary, only a 25-yard pool in the Rec Center without a diving well and devoted locker room space for the teams. The need for a swimming facility was identified as a top priority in the 2015 report by the Committee on Competitive Excellence. It has been a priority in the For the Bold campaign. Though we have not achieved the level of support from potential donors that we need to date, we continue to press.
In addition to enhancing the experience for our student-athletes, an upgraded facility would also allow for enhanced revenue streams which do not currently exist, including concessions and merchandise sales, the ability to host meets and reduce travel expenses and the opportunity to rent the venue for outside events.
Creative options might include partnerships, though none have yet come to fruition. Annual operating support for such a facility, in the seven figures, would also need to be factored in. We continue to press here as well.
Operating Support and Scholarships
To fulfill our competitive aspirations, W&M Swimming’s resources must grow significantly. The strategic plan frames the reality that in order for the program to thrive in the future, resources must be found through philanthropy.
Less than 25% of the current budget comes from the endowments that are dedicated to the swimming program. The remaining funds are derived from student fees (46%), annual giving to the Tribe Club (25%) and other revenue sources not directly tied to the swimming program (4%). Less than 8% of the current budget is dedicated to scholarships, compared to more than 92% to operating expenses and salaries. Increasing our scholarship funding remains a primary goal of our fundraising efforts.
In Tribe 2025, under Goal Three: Financial Sustainability’s first objective, we established specific targets for annual giving and endowment. We’re actively engaging donors throughout the W&M Athletics community – and particularly within the W&M Swimming community – to ensure more robust operations and scholarships. We’re also encouraging everyone, regardless of amount, to participate in annual giving this and every year – it matters immensely.
|