Move the Swimming Hall of Fame Museum to SMU!

[MrMustang1965]

With SMU's great swimmers and divers over the years, it would be great if this museum were located near or on the SMU campus!

The International Swimming Hall of Fame hopes to return to its former glory with a new board, new director, and a new vision for one of the sport's largest museums.

BY ASHLEY FANTZ

afantz@herald.com


Last winter, a janitor with a mile-long rap sheet spent several weeks swiping Olympic medals and other valuables from the International Swimming Hall of Fame museum in Fort Lauderdale.

The tourist attraction was so loosely run that no one noticed they were missing.

Weeks later, an Olympic memorabilia collector spotted them on eBay and called the museum.

''The museum was an absolute disaster, its governance, presentation, the business side of it,'' said the Fort Lauderdale facility's new CEO, Bruce Wigo.

The former water polo player, who took over in May, says he's working with a new board to bring the museum into the 21st Century. It won't be easy.

''It was once a thriving place that many people started to describe as dull,'' Wigo said.

Today, the former Fort Lauderdale landmark has shabby display cases and yellowing wax figures of the sport's icons. At least one -- Mark Spitz -- is missing a few fingers. On a few television screens, video of past Olympic competitions rolls, but there's nothing splashy about it.

On Friday, four former college swimming buddies from the Southern Methodist University swim team flipped through a rack of black-and-white photos of their sports heroes and glanced at display cases, filled with items as varied as Hall founder Johnny Weissmuller's medals and a wool bathing suit from the '30s.

''I was here when I was 14 years old, training at the pool with my Oklahoma swim team,'' recalled Michelle Pappas, 46, of Dallas who is a longtime diver. ``That was a thrill for me. And I actually like this place.''

This week, the museum got back 50 of the stolen items -- valued well into the millions -- while the alleged thief remained where he has been since his December arrest -- in the North Broward Detention Facility in Pompano Beach.

But dozens of medals and trophies are still missing, said Wigo, including an Olympic fig leaf wreath that swimmer Belle Moore wore in the 1912 Olympics.

The collection had not even been cataloged until last summer, when an employee took digital photographs in anticipation of the hurricanes.

Sam Freas, a well-known swimming coach, ran the museum from 1988 until last December, when a member of the former board accused him of sloppy fiscal management and cited letters from more than a dozen Olympians. The swimmers were so upset, they demanded their memorabilia be removed.

One of those athletes was Mark Spitz, considered the fastest swimmer of all time with a record seven gold medals in the 1972 Olympics.

Since Wigo took control, and the museum was outfitted with an extensive security surveillance system, Spitz has changed course, becoming chairman of the museum's board of directors.

''I feel a responsibility to pass the baton on to new generations,'' he said this week at a ceremony to return the stolen medals. ``I think there's a chance we can get this place back on its feet.''

DIFFERENT TIMES

According to Wigo, the Hall lost $300,000 last year, money that went to pay salaries and other expenses. The Hall once operated with a $1.5 million annual budget; Wigo said they'll have to work with $250,000 this year.

The only profit the place had been making for years came from people who rented its ocean-view property for weddings and other events, he said.

SPONSOR SEARCH

In addition to improving the record of its collection -- reportedly the largest in the nation -- the top goal for Wigo and the board is to find a corporation to sponsor the museum, possibly also sharing its name.

The board has decided to hire outside marketing and fundraising consultants. Wigo envisions a makeover that includes interactive, virtual exhibits that might tempt more visitors, including schools that would pay pay for field trips. Hopefully, the museum will have a traveling exhibit that might be featured at the 2008 Olympics.

The museum shares property on A1A, just south of Las Olas Boulevard, with a 40-year-old aquatic center which also needs attention. Like the museum, the pool leases land from the city, but the two are operated separately.

The pools are suffering from underwater plumbing problems and deteriorating bleachers, said Wigo. The lap pool is considered too narrow and shallow compared to modern pools, which are designed to counteract turbulence.

HOSTING SWIMMERS

Nevertheless, it continues to host thousands of swimmers a year, including 2004 Olympic stars Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin who won gold medals at the Hall of Fame's Phillips 66 Summer National Championships in 2002.

High schools and colleges compete every year at the aquatic center's pool, said Jeff Stafford, assistant aquatic manager. The U.S. Water Polo National Age Group Championships drew 1,000 athletes in July.

''The College Swimming Forum brings many college students here -- they've been coming down since 1935,'' he said. ``That's really what helped start Fort Lauderdale as a place for spring break.''

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/12607503.htm

[Water Pony]

Thanks 65,

Not a bad idea, but it won't happen. Fort Lauderdale location is something special, which is a tourist draw for the Beach. As a matter of fact, SMU has a long history at the Hall of Fame pool.

I went to HS in Ft. Lauderdale and during my college years, I got six or more swimmers to train there in the summer before there were options in Dallas. I was also on the first team to train there as well, Fort Lauderdale Swim Association.

They need help and, if they move, think Florida or California locations, even though I would love to see it in Dallas. That might even help us raise the money and get SMU support to finally build a competitive Aquatic Center for our four teams, Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving. Non-revenue sports, like these very competitive teams, need competitive facilities.

Be on the look-out for possible developments this year.