Alaska legislators join call to remove recently installed diving boards at Bartlett High

After an uproar within the Anchorage swimming community, a half-dozen Alaska legislators are calling for the removal of recently installed diving boards at Bartlett High School, home to the only 50-meter pool in the state.

Members of the swimming community have been vocal opponents of the new boards, claiming that the boards cause potential safety issues and have hindered the facility’s ability to host major events such as state meets and USA Swimming qualifiers.

In a Sept. 26 letter to Anchorage Parks and Recreation Director Mike Braniff, who manages pools throughout the city, the lawmakers wrote: “As state appropriators, it is a priority that state-funded capital improvements are used effectively and result in an improvement for the community — not create limitations. Currently, as we understand the design, the Bartlett 3-meter diving boards prevent full competitive access to all lanes for official and USA Swimming-sanctioned competitions.”

The group responsible for the installation says the boards are long overdue and are now installed to standards that should ensure swimmers’ safety.

The clash over the installation project has caused a schism between the swimming and diving communities that train and compete alongside each other at aquatic centers throughout the state.

Matt McDaniel, president of the Arctic Diving Club, said the boards across Anchorage were in dire need of an upgrade. He’s coached locally for more than 30 years and, before that, competed collegiately and at Dimond High School. McDaniel said the diving boards he competed on in Anchorage during his adolescence were the same ones being used until the new ones were installed throughout the municipality.

“The municipality let the diving boards go through about 30 years of deferred maintenance, and we were about to lose all of our diving boards, so I put together a project plan and approached (former state senator) Mia Costello to go get a grant from the state to replace all the diving boards,” McDaniel said.

Once the funding was secured, McDaniel said he negotiated with the municipality, which owns and maintains all the local pools, through Dimond Alumni Association LLC.

The project called for the replacement of both 1-meter and 3-meter boards at municipal pools, and a second 3-meter board was added. That addition also meant that the location of the boards changed on the deck.

Leaders within the swimming community are upset about the impact these changes, specifically at Bartlett High, will have on relay races and other national qualifying competitions moving forward.

“It’s really at the detriment of thousands of Alaskan swimmers because now we’re at a place where we could lose our sanctioning from USA Swimming,” Eagle River High School and Chugiak Swim Club coach Bryce Carpenter said.

McDaniel, in an email to Anchorage Daily News, wrote: “The Bartlett 3-meter diving boards do not obstruct or prevent USA (Swimming). We exhaustively researched other facilities in the country that had the same configuration.”

Carpenter and many in the swimming community were under the initial impression that the grant was only meant to replace the diving boards at Dimond. He said he is disappointed that there was no involvement by multi-user groups.

“It was done behind our backs and now that it’s in, we’re having to advocate for swimming instead of just the aquatic community in general, which is really sad,” Carpenter said. “We’re trying to find a resolution with the municipality, but it feels like they’re sitting on their heels and not a lot is happening.”

Carpenter and other coaches are upset that they were not informed or consulted during the planning process prior to the modifications to the Bartlett pool — in particular as it hosts several major events each year.

“Normally with municipality code, there’s a public process and all user groups are consulted,” USA Swimming official Joey Caternichio said. “If we were to alter Kincaid Park, we’d work with Frisbee, the biking group and the skiing group.”

In a meeting of the Assembly’s Quality Municipal Services, Ethics, and Elections Committee last week, Braniff with Parks and Recreation took responsibility for the lack of municipal oversight of the project and said he’s putting together a public input process he expects to conclude in October. He said board replacement would generally be viewed as ongoing maintenance, and his impression was that the boards being replaced were going to be similar in type and footprint.

Braniff said concerns he has heard from the public relate to safety and on-deck logistics, particularly during relays where more swimmers are on the deck.

Swimming groups were under the impression that any renovation would involve using an updated model to replace what was previously installed, without impacting the configuration of the pool and deck itself.

“They went with two very invasive installations and on top of it, they added another high dive,” Carpenter said. “To me, it doesn’t feel like they’re following public process when you say you’re going to replace something and then completely change the installation and also add something to it.”

McDaniel said the process, which took over a year to put into action, wasn’t rushed, and the total cost of the project was $588,775. He said the extra 3-meter board would allow Anchorage to host USA Diving competitions that include the high dive.

“From the time that we got the grant awarded to the time that I had negotiated an agreement with the municipality, it was 14 months before we even got an agreement,” McDaniel said. “It took well over a year for them to allow me to fix our dilapidated facilities.”

From there, the diving group went through a lengthy permitting process that included electrical engineering, as well as building safety and construction permits. McDaniel said the group referenced several facilities from across the country with the same deck configurations for the diving boards as models.

“A facility upgrade typically wouldn’t require much more public input because we’re just upgrading a facility,” McDaniel said. “Either way, it was the responsibility of the Parks and Recreation director to participate in the planning and present the permits from building safety since it’s his (entity) that he’s representing and he failed to do both of those things.”

Safety concerns among swimmers

Some of the safety concerns stem from swimmers diving into the pool during relays with diving boards hanging over the exchange area.

At the high school and club level, Carpenter coaches several swimmers who are 6-foot-1 or taller who he believes could potentially hurt themselves.

“If they’re trying to do relays in those (obstructed) lanes, there’s a very easy chance that they end up hitting their hands on those blocks during relay exchanges and potentially breaking their hands,” Carpenter said. “Stepping up to the blocks, there’s a low ceramic base, so they can potentially hit their head and crack their skulls.”

The legislators said the removal of the boards should take place so the pool is fully accessible for the regional and state meets in November.

Alaska School Activities Association Executive Director Billy Strickland said that if the high dive boards were raised slightly, it would remove the risk that taller swimmers could potentially injure themselves. Upon request from ASAA, that alteration has been made, according to McDaniel.

“ASAA was made aware of the new 3-meter boards in August and have been monitoring how they impact the swimming events,” Strickland said in a statement. “After the Big-8 swim meet (on Sept. 7), we met with our swim and dive tournament director and head official, who worked the meet. All eight lanes were successfully used during the competition except for the relays, when only six lanes were used. Our tournament director and head official felt that if the boards on the 3-meter stands were raised then all eight lanes could be used for the relays. Therefore, we made a request to have the boards raised and they have been. There will be at least two more large high school competitions in the Bartlett pool prior to the state meet. We will continue to monitor how the competitions go, but feel with the boards now being raised, the issue has been resolved for ASAA’s needs.”

Carpenter said the new boards change how meets are staged and how swimmers go through their pre-race rituals.

He and his fellow coaches have been trying to find a resolution with the municipality since mid-July and have provided their external consultations.

“We’ve provided statements from officials both inside and outside of Alaska and our national governing body, USA (Swimming), their risk management team has seen the photos and videos and said that they don’t think it is appropriate,” Carpenter said.

McDaniel said his group got the proper permits, signed off from the Anchorage Fire Department and passed all inspections. He said the project falls in accordance with ADA access.

“We also fell in line with FINA (now known as World Aquatic),” McDaniel said. “They have regulations about the dimensions of the diving board, how far out they are, how far they are from the wall, how far they are from each other.”

He also provided a letter from USA Diving president Lee Michaud, who reviewed the matter and reinforced that the modified venue is safe for sanctioned competitions.

“After reviewing photos of the Bartlett venue, I am convinced that it meets appropriate standards for safe competition for diving and swimming,” Michaud stated. “Further, this facility is similar in form and function to others that currently host diving and swimming competitions in conjunction. I am not an inspector, nor an engineer and I have to emphasize that USA Diving will take no position and will not be responsible for any decisions made in this matter. That said, in my opinion, this venue can safely host competitions.”

McDaniel also provided a letter from National Federation of State High School Associations Director of Sports Sandy Searcy:

“We are in receipt of your request to consider the design of the Bartlett High School Aquatic Facility in Anchorage Alaska relative to the positioning of two 3-meter diving boards and the swimming starting blocks. Upon review of the NFHS Swimming and Diving Rules, it has been determined that the current rules code does not explicitly prohibit, nor does it address the matter in question. No specific regulation is provided within the existing rules framework concerning this issue. We would like to commend your efforts and due diligence concerning analysis of similar facilities, review of multiple rule codes of both swimming and diving, researching the background of pool modifications, and correspondence with a variety of experts in the field.”

Caterinichio said the new configuration may put the pool at risk of losing sanctioning from USA Swimming.

In a memo directed to Alaska Swimming’s local committee, Rachel Olson, program director-risk management at USA Swimming Inc., said the boards may be in violation of USA Swimming rules covering facility standards.

Is there a possible resolution?

Carpenter feels that if the two aquatic communities had worked together on constructing a plan from the outset, they would’ve been able to figure something out that works for both sides.

“If we were able to work on this together and have multi-user input, then that would’ve been able to find the resolution that was needed because we would’ve found what would’ve worked for both of us,” he said.

Caternichio suggests that other pools such as East High be used by the diving community for their competitions and leave Bartlett as full multi-user pool for both swimming and diving.

“We need to go back to one low-profile high dive or zero,” she said.

The plan to use East was also forwarded by the lawmakers who signed the letter, which included Anchorage Sens. Bill Wielechowski, Löki Gale Tobin, Matt Claman and Forrest Dunbar as well as Anchorage Rep. Cliff Groh and Juneau Rep. Sara Hannan.

“Further, we request the designation of Bettye Davis East High School pool as a premier pool for diving practice and competitions, due to the pool’s proximity to Bartlett and the existing diving well.”

McDaniel is shocked and saddened by the divide this has created between Alaska’s aquatic communities.

”All I can say is that I’m a private citizen that went to my legislator and got money to do the boards and then negotiated to build it and went through everything that I was supposed to get compliant,” he said.

There will be a special meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission on Oct. 23 that the public will be able to attend and put their testimonies on the record as it relates to the diving boards. Members of both the swimming and diving communities and any members of the public will be permitted to speak and will be heard.

“I think that simply put, our point of view is that it is appropriate at this time that public process takes place where both user groups are given an opportunity to testify on the record,” Braniff said.