Published in the Daily Hampshire Gazette on April 16, 2015
NORTHAMPTON — Parents and swimmers at the Hampshire Regional YMCA are concerned that the competitive Dolphins swim team program will be eliminated as the result of a review of the aquatics program.
“We have been led to believe that the program is imperiled,” said Sabra Aquadro of Northampton, a parent of a 16-year-old swimmer. “That it will move forward through the summer, but there is a very good chance that in the fall it will no longer be in existence.”
David Marks, CEO of the YMCA at 286 Prospect St., confirmed that the organization is re-evaluating its aquatics programs, but said no decisions have been made about any changes as of Tuesday.
“It’s not necessarily a yes or a no for any program,” Marks said. “What answers I’m not giving is not because people don’t deserve the answers, it’s because a thoughtful process needs to happen.”
Andrew Pollock, chairman of the Y’s board, said he believes it is important for organizations to re-evaluate themselves, but recognized a communication lapse with the community.
“I’m sorry about the swirl of rumors and misinformation,” Pollock said. “At some level I do understand it, but I think if people could calm down a little bit about the idea of conducting a review and with the assurance that all the stakeholders will have a say, an opportunity for input. I think it’s a reasonable thing for an organization like the Y to be doing.”
Pollock and Marks both said they do not know when the review will be complete. Marks said families will have plenty of notice before the end of the summer session about the fate of the swim team and structure of the entire aquatics program.
The Dolphins competitive program includes four teams and 64 swimmers, starting at age 7, who compete in two seasonal sessions over the entire year against other YMCA teams. The oldest group also competes in USA Swimming-sanctioned meets. The program draws swimmers from Northampton and surrounding towns.
The Dolphins program helps to develop top-level swimmers who go on to compete for their high school teams. The Northampton High School girls swimming team won its third straight Western Massachusetts championship this year, and many of its members grew up in the Dolphins program.
Northampton High School senior Kerry Fleming, who helped lead the Blue Devils to all three titles, got her start at the Hampshire Y. She said of her high school teammates, “We all became friends swimming together on HRY so it made the transition from the Y team to the high school team a lot easier. We already knew how everyone swam, our weaknesses, our strengths. It definitely made a lot of things easier.”
Fleming added, “That is just kind of where I got my roots. That was the first team I was on, the only team I was on up until high school, and I would have never thought to swim in high school or college if it wasn’t for HRY.”
The Hampshire Regional YMCA aquatics program also includes swim lessons and a variety of classes for all ages, including adults, in addition to open lap and family swimming times for members.
Aquadro said rumors started floating around Dolphin swim team families last week that the competitive program may be in jeopardy.
Her daughter, Natalie Aquadro, is a sophomore at the Williston Northampton School and has been swimming at the Y for over 10 years, starting at age 6. Sabra Aquadro said her family’s experience has been nothing but positive as Natalie outgrew her shyness and gained confidence swimming and competing at the Y.
“Through her coaches and all the people at meets and having to put herself out there at meets, it has changed her life and personality in so many ways I can’t even explain it,” Sabra Aquadro said. “The number of connections of the greater swimming community, even outside Hampshire Regional, is tremendous — the contacts, the friends she’s made, they are her life essentially.”
New aquatics director
Marks said the evaluation of the entire swimming program comes at a time of change for the Y as it seeks a new aquatics directors. Earlier this month, the Y announced that aquatics/swim team director Jenn Behrens is leaving for a job at the Capital District YMCA in Albany, New York. Her replacement has not been yet been hired.
“With the departure of our present aquatics director, we are using the opportunity to review all our aquatics programs — swim lessons, swim teams, lap times, saying, ‘How can we best serve all of our members,’” Marks said.
Marks said that over his 11-year tenure at the Hampshire Regional YMCA, it has grown to serve 6,788 members, putting it at capacity.
“We are looking at it strategically,” Marks said. “What does it mean for a Y to be at capacity? … What are we doing at the prime time in the pool?”
Marks added, “You have a multitude of different programs that utilize the pool … It’s an area of the Y that a lot of people want to use.”
The YMCA schedule for its large and small pools shows at least two lanes always available seven days a week for open lap swimming.
The Dolphin teams split practice time in the large pool from 5 to 9 p.m. four to six days a week, depending on the competition level, leaving three lanes available for open lap swimming.
For lifelong members like Sabra Aquadro and her husband, Richard, who both swam at the Hampshire Y before competing for the Blue Devils, it’s hard to imagine life without the swim team.
“Many of the kids that go through the Y (for swim lessons), including ourselves and our daughter, see the swim team and the kids that are on the swim team and that becomes their goal — to become part of that,” she said.
Marks said the Dolphins, like other parts of the aquatics program, will be evaluated on numerous criteria, including participation numbers, scheduling availability, staffing needs, community impact and financial implications.
Success and records of the competitive swim teams are not necessarily deciding factors in their future, Marks said.
“It’s one measurement of success,” he said. “It’s wonderful that people are breaking those records and it’s wonderful for those children, but what we have to do, the board and myself and staff, is look at how we best serve the greater community and most of our members.”
Marks and Pollock said they understand the confusion and frustration with the evaluation. Each stressed that the process is in very early stages, and no one yet knows the outcome of the review.
“The intention is only to take a good hard look at what we are doing that best meets the needs of all our members,” Pollock said.