As staggering financial difficulties endanger the future of the university’s 27-sport athletics department, it seemed only a matter of time before the first sport hit the chopping block. That time may have come.
The Terrapins men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs are likely to be eliminated after this season, according to sources with knowledge of the situation, as the athletics department seeks to rebalance a budget hamstrung by a debt estimated to exceed $83 million.
University President Wallace Loh said he met with coach Sean Schimmel yesterday, and the two are awaiting official word on the program’s future. Schimmel could not be reached for comment, and Loh said it would be premature to speculate on the team’s future when reached last night.
A final decision is expected some time after Nov. 15, when a report from the President’s Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics detailing the department’s finances and operations and making recommendations on ways to decrease costs is scheduled to be delivered. Loh had previously said the results of the report, which is compiled by the 17-member commission, would not be released until December.
In a statement sent to The Diamondback last night, Athletic Director Kevin Anderson said that any comment on the rumored cuts “would be premature,” given that the report will not reach Loh until next week.
Letters of intent from prospective recruits will be held, Anderson said, because the commission’s report will not be final until after the national signing period ends Nov. 16. The signing period begins nationally today, and Anderson said the well-being of student-athletes, who would make up the foundation of future Terps teams, “is our primary concern.”
In an interview with The Diamondback in late September, Anderson described the difficulty in budget cuts, saying “there’s no fat” within the athletics department budget. Among ACC schools, only Boston College and North Carolina, with 31 and 28 varsity teams, respectively, support more varsity sports teams than this university. Season-ticket sales and private donations have also dwindled in recent seasons amid a slumping national economy and in-game struggles for the men’s basketball and football teams.
Anderson would not rule out the possibility of cutting entire programs from the budget, explaining that simple staff reduction is unlikely and that eliminating teams is a distinct possibility. According to The Washington Post, the department is slated to incur a $4.7 million loss for the current fiscal year, which concludes on June 30, 2012.
“There’s not too many other places that we can reduce spending and give the student-athlete the best experience possible,” Anderson said.
Spencer Sterling, a freshman swimmer, declined to comment specifically on the possible cuts when reached by telephone last night, saying it was an ongoing situation. However, he said the Terps would “have to fight through” any possible midseason distractions stemming from the commission’s report. Other swimmers took to social media to voice their opinions on the potential cut. Within hours, a Facebook group in support of the team, called SAVE UMD SWIMMING AND DIVING, had surfaced, with more than 3,000 members as of early Wednesday morning.
Such cuts are not unprecedented in Division I athletics. Last year, University of California-Berkeley removed five teams from varsity status, including baseball. The cuts were expected to save $4 million, according to the university.
The Terps’ swimming and diving teams wouldn’t be the only such ACC programs cut. A two-year phase-out plan for Clemson’s men’s swimming and diving and women’s swimming teams was announced in 2010.
Senior staff writer Yasmeen Abutaleb contributed to this report. sports@umdbk.com
