Preserving the aquatic life seems to be becoming increasingly difficult as city parks and community centers struggle to stay open amidst budget crisis. Swim teams fight amongst themselves for pool time at crowded athletic facilities and suddenly a valuable after school program, a physical fitness tool, a team sport is thrashing to stay afloat. What happens when the water continues to dry up? At Adolph Kiefer & Associates we have a long history in promoting aquatics as a life long activity. Because of this and my personal connection to pool demolition I wanted to share with our readers and customers, our family, what you can do to prevent the loss of swimming culture for future generations. My home state of Arizona is a dry one. Over the past decade pools have come under fire for being too costly to run or the land they occupy too valuable to only house a pool with a swim team. Let’s be honest, they don’t rake in the dough, but aren’t some things worth more than money? In the past decade one 50 meter pool has been demolished and forgotten, paved over and built up with cookie cutter homes that have no yards. They are crowded on top of sacred ground, but not many people know. I do. I learned to swim there. Got my first coaching job there. Fell in love and met my husband there. That was the Arizona Sports Ranch, home to the Arizona Desert Fox swim team better known as AFOX. Olympic gold medalist Misty Hyman trained there exclusively until her college days at Stanford. Summer camps were run there. High schools practiced there. Kids grew up there. Now another facility faces the same fate. It is a completely different situation with the same outcome. Another pool will be buried under the dry desert dirt. The Boreyko/AIM Sports Complex, better known in the swimming community as the home pool for Phoenix Swim Club, will likely be shut down in March of 2014 to make room for tract homes. This is the only remaining 50 meter pool in the city of Phoenix. The only Phoenix facility capable of hosting large swimming events. It is a monument to swimming. The caliber of athletes to come out of this particular facility boasts multiple Olympians. Gary Hall Jr, son of 1972 and 1976 Olympian Gary Hall Sr, swam in three Olympics and brought home 10 medals. The brother sister duo of Klete and Kalyn Keller brought more prestige to the club after they both qualified for the Olympics. Klete is a five time medalist. There is historical relevance, documented inside the facilities’ buildings. An entire wall mapping out the globe is signed by visiting Olympians ranging from our own Adolph Kiefer to modern day heroes Dana Vollmer and Jessica Hardy. The wall is not limited to US Olympians, but global. National teams from around the world have made this facility a frequent stopping place for extended training bouts. Canada, Ireland, and Japan are a few. This facility is more than a home to a swim team. Recreational teams for children and adults have made use of the pools, the grass track, weight room, and volleyball and basketball courts. Adult and children swim lessons are directed here. The Special Olympics swimming group practices at the facility as well as multiple high school teams. Even the Grand CanyonUniversity swim team uses this facility. The pool has been used for flight attendant training in the event of emergency water landings; the Fire Department comes for training as well. Summer camp programs keep latch key kids moving, safe, and social during the summers. There are young adults swimming for Phoenix Swim Club that have already lost their swimming home. I know of at least one personally. She was one of my 9-10 year olds while I coached at AFOX. We lost that pool and the team shortly after. She then swam for a small team out of a country club; the club went bankrupt, now she is at PSC and will likely lose yet another pool. What can we do to prevent this from happening? Not much at this point. Sadly, the fight looks to be over. More information and petitions can be found at preservingcommunityaquatics.org. The outlook might be grim, but the locals aren't giving up and I do not blame them. There is always a chance. I personally urge you to check it out and sign, if it is something you agree with. Will it matter? Maybe not. But our voices do. Perhaps enough noise and bother will prevent the death of another pool in the future. Donations are not always the most powerful tool. Connections, networking, and intelligence are equally important. This is not an article about money or contracts or promises. It is about a loss we as a community have suffered, are suffering, and will suffer again if we don’t take steps to preserve our community pools.