Published Jun 17, 2025 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 4 minute readAcadia varsity swim team members gathered for a group photo in November following an Atlantic University Sport meet held in Wolfville. Little did the student-athletes know at the time, but university officials would announce in February it was permanently closing the pool in June and disbanding its varsity team. Photo by ContributedAt a Feb. 9 meeting, members of the Acadia varsity swim team had their world ripped apart by university president Jeff Hennessy’s decision to close the pool and disband the swim team.We parents will never forget the anguished phone calls received immediately following the meeting. Young adults struggling to process how their lives had been turned upside down within 15 minutes.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentThis backdrop to Acadia University’s pool closure has not received media attention.Read More COMMENTARY: Acadia’s pool closes but the need for aquatics remains COMMENTARY: Acadia University must be transparent with its community Acadia’s pending pool closure worrying for 91-year-old Annapolis Valley swimmer Acadia recruited swimmers from across Canada. These student-athletes could pursue their academic studies at any university but decided on Acadia because of the growing strength and culture of its swim program.This swim team was an extended family. Teammates supported one another in their studies, training, competitions, and lived together in residence or in shared off-campus housing.Their commitment to academics and athletics is reflected in the consistently high percentage of academic all-Canadians, 46 per cent in 2023-24, on the team – student-athletes achieving an 80 per cent or better academic average.Article contentSwimming is an intrinsic part of these students’ lives and identities. You don’t become a varsity swimmer by training on weekends. You commit a vast amount of time, training twice a day, six days a week for 10 to 11 months of the year over more than half your life.These student-athletes know how to set and achieve goals, to self-motivate, to deal with adversity and do it all while supporting their teammates and competitors alike. They are the very best of us. They are people a university should want to support, retain and promote to the world. Not at Acadia.The surprise and finality of Acadia’s pool closure announcement was devastating to these student-athletes. Hope for their current reality was killed that day.The university was saying, ‘End your swimming careers on our terms, not yours, or leave.’No university or independent counsellors were present at that meeting to help soften the trauma. No organized support for refocusing on their studies was offered.Article contentLife-altering decisionsThrough information obtained via Nova Scotia’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIPOP) Act, it is our view that Acadia’s administration spent far more effort on a communication plan than on a support plan for the swim team. Subsequent efforts to provide counselling and academic support were poorly organized, reactionary, and frankly, far too little and far too late because the students’ trust in the institution was destroyed at that meeting.In the midst of midterms and their Atlantic University Sport (AUS) championship swim meet, the students had to make hurried, life-altering decisions about university transfers. Most are now leaving Acadia behind, but some who are too far into their degree programs must remain as they otherwise would lose too many course credits. Their varsity swimming careers are over, and the pain of this loss will not diminish easily.Article contentFor the students who are leaving, most are facing an additional undergraduate year or more due to credits that won’t transfer between universities. This, combined with the additional costs of breaking leases in Wolfville, moving, and finding new housing, poses a tremendous unplanned cost to those students and their families.This situation is entirely due to the timing of Acadia’s announcement. Through FOIPOP emails, we know that up to a week before the announcement was made, the senior administration was considering a scenario that kept the pool open for another year. This timeframe would have allowed university transfers to be considered carefully, and options for the community to be explored and implemented. This scenario would have cost Acadia $25,000 in pool repairs.Legal action explainedAcadia dismissed the swim team parents’ concerns, so several parents engaged a lawyer to get the university’s attention. A threat of legal action, our only leverage, prompted Acadia to offer mediation, as a formal approach to hear and address our concerns.Article contentAfter two months, and before the mediation was initiated, Acadia withdrew its offer. We believe the offer was meant to stall and keep us quiet. This ended the group’s legal effort to hold Acadia to account. Meanwhile, the president used the threat of legal action to avoid answering questions about the pool closure.On June 3, Swim Nova Scotia held a town hall meeting to raise the profile of its efforts to engage with Acadia on solutions to keep the pool open in the short-term. The organization offered to do a state of good repair assessment at no direct cost to Acadia, but the university repeatedly ignored the offer.A June 5 article in this publication highlighted these efforts, and a quote from Acadia indicated they could not engage “… due to threatened legal action….”We view this as a cynical and misleading attempt to hide from community consultation.Article contentAcadia is a public institution, funded largely by taxpayer money and student tuition fees, and Wolfville residents’ property taxes directly help fund the pool. Yet, both Acadia and politicians have refused meaningful engagement with the community, even though thousands of residents will be negatively affected by the closure.All we are left with are questions. What has happened to transparency and accountability? Why has Acadia ignored their own values of caring for students; community engagement; social justice; engaged partnerships and outreach; and authentic relationships?How could Acadia’s president neglect his fundamental duty of care to the student-athletes on the swim team?Ian Jonsen,Acadia varsity swim team parentArticle content
COMMENTARY: Varsity swimmers deserve more answers to pool closure
