It is tragic when any sort of academic, athletic, or extracurricular activities are cut from a school’s budget. Although most times it is about what makes fiscal sense for the school rather than some sort of vendetta against the program, it still doesn’t stop the fact that it can be damaging to the students. One program that is usually the first to go despite its many, many benefits is swimming.

Perhaps the biggest reason why many swimming programs are being cut is because of the sheer expenses involved in maintaining an Olympic-sized or half-Olympic sized pool, as is standard in many schools. The average above-ground, personal residence pool requires approximately $2000 per year in standard maintenance, and those are only a fraction of the size of school pools. The other huge cost factor is the insurance needed to allow students to spend time in said pool. Depending on the size of the student body and the risk factors involved, insurance costs alone could be enough to warrant cutting the program.

Another reason why pools are being cut is the real estate they represent. In a time when many school districts have growing enrollment without the growing budgets to match, flooring over the pool represents a cheap way to get 5-6 classrooms without having to fund an entire addition or remodeling project. Class time will always trump after school activities, and therefore when faced with a decision, most pools don’t stand a chance.

Finally, the sport itself is dwindling, largely because of the aforementioned reasons. For each school that is forced to remove their pool, that is one fewer school able to compete within a particular conference. As more and more drop out, there is an exponential domino effect that reaches schools that otherwise had no problem keeping their pools intact.

Even though it is one of the best exercises, and one of the few sports that teaches self-discipline and concentration, the sport of high school swimming is becoming quite endangered.