Acadia University has announced the permanent closure of its swimming pool later this year and as a result, the removal of its combined men’s and women’s swimming program.
Acadia, a Canadian school that competes in U SPORTS and is located in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, said in a statement Sunday that it will permanently close the Acadia Swimming Pool on June 15, 2025, due to the “longstanding financial challenges of maintaining the facility.”
The closure will result in the varsity swimming program being discontinued at the end of the 2024-25 season.
The school said the pool has operated at an annual deficit of $400,000 “for years,” and that the cost has become unsustainable.
“The pool that we’ve had for 60 years has really reached the end of its life,” said Acadia president and vice-chancellor Jeff Hennessy. “It’s got leaks, water quality issues, filtration issues. The cost to repair it is in the millions and that’s just to prolong the life of what really is not a great facility.”
A consultant’s report in November 2024 noted that the pool requires major repairs, including new tiles, and that its filtration and HVAC systems are at the end of their life.
The estimated cost for repairs is about $3 million.
The pool is a six-lane, 25-meter facility, so while it’s been able to host meets with U SPORTS running all of its in-season competitions in short course meters, it’s not an ideal destination due to only having six lanes. Acadia typically only hosted one meet each season, the Jack Scholz Invitational in late October/early November.
“We know how much the pool means to our university and local community, and making this decision has been incredibly difficult,” Hennessy said. “This will deeply impact many individuals and groups. After reviewing all options, we have had to face the hard reality that it is financially unfeasible to continue operating the facility.”
With Acadia’s swimmers preparing for the AUS Championships from Feb. 21-23 in New Brunswick, and ultimately the U SPORTS Championships in March, the school said it will support the facility until the end of the season “so long as water quality and safety can be maintained.”
There are currently 47 swimmers listed on Acadia’s roster, including 18 first-years.
“Our focus now is really on their well-being, getting them through the season, getting them through the year and figuring out how to support them in their decisions for the future,” Hennessy said, according to CBC.
Team captain Ella Collins spoke to CBC about the shock felt by the swimmers when they heard the news.
“All you could hear was just tears and people upset immediately,” Collins said.
“None of us expected that to happen on a Sunday afternoon mid-term week, one week away from reading week, just under two weeks away from our championship meet. None of us expected this to happen.
“I don’t want to transfer,” she said. “I swim because of these people and my family here, and I can’t imagine myself swimming anywhere else but here with Acadia swimming. And I know that many of my teammates also feel this way.”
Acadia has been led by head coach Kris Bell since 2021.
At the 2024 Atlantic University Sport (AUS) Swimming Championships, the Acadia men and women finished as the runner-ups behind Dalhousie, a repeat of the result in 2023. The men’s team won their first AUS title since 1981 in 2020, while the women last won the conference title in 1980.
Acadia sent 10 swimmers to the 2024 U SPORTS Championships, with the women placing 12th (out of 22 teams) and the men placing 20th (out of 25 teams).
In April 2021, another Canadian school, Laurentian University, cut its swimming program due in part to financial issues and the need for pricey repairs to its swimming pool.
There are other options that the University has not even considered. While other Acadia sports teams receive support and travel to off-campus facilities, no such effort has been made here. Furthermore, the report used to justify this decision has not undergone a review or sought a second opinion—an approach that has proven beneficial in similar cases across Canada, including right here in Nova Scotia.
The impact of this decision goes far beyond the university; it affects the entire community, Swim Nova Scotia, and the Atlantic University Sports Division. This pool is the only facility where children can learn to swim, seniors and community members can exercise for both physical and mental health, and therapy sessions can be held for… Read more »
Shame on them to do this without any warning or any discussions with the community of wolfville. Sure a new recreation centre is possibly going to be built but they should have found a way to accommodate until then. They should have planned this over a couple seasons. 18 new swimmers this season! It’s one of the most talked about programs in the country due to the leadership of Kris Bell.
The culture at Acadia swimming is welcoming, hard working, and dedicated to the community and university. The swimmers are a family and are devastated.
The university and town will suffer losing 50 swimmers at close to $20k a pop.
The school should find an alternative solution… Read more »
12th on the women’s side and 20th on the men’s side at U Sports last season, “most talked about” might be a stretch lol
What the Acadia Administration has not told you is that they received a $22 M grant from the Nova Scotia provincial government two years ago for deferred maintenance. To date, they have only spent about 25% of that grant. The administration has consistently neglected the pool, so when Jeff Hennessy says it “really is not a great facility”, that’s because of his and past administration’s neglect. The pool is a community lynch pin, relied on by residents throughout the region, the age-group Wolfville Tritons Swim Club, and used for essential programs for the aged and disabled like the well-renowned SMILE program.
The University has also not mentioned how disbanding the Swim Team will impact the current gender imbalance across all… Read more »
Second Canadian varsity program to bite the dust this year. Limits on international students, among other factors, making for tough times financially at universities around the country. Would be a good time for other programs to reflect on how they can reinforce their value to their communities, like charity fundraisers, volunteering, swim lessons. Also might be wise to seek ways to decrease the financial burden of the program on the university as much as possible; sell tickets to swim meets (if you’re not already), swim camps run by varsity athletes, fundraising from alumni.
Really hope this is the last program we see get axed for awhile, though I’ve heard rumours there could be one more to come at the… Read more »