'Saddened and disappointed': University of Alberta to cut Golden Bears and Pandas swim programs

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Some of Chris Bowie’s fondest memories came in the pool as a member of the University of Alberta Golden Bears swim team.

Last year, it came full circle for the Edmonton lawyer. He was inducted into the school’s Wall of Fame, and his daughter Shayne Bowie joined the U of A Pandas swim team to start chasing her own pool dreams.

But the father and daughter won’t be able to create more memories after the university made the decision in late October to cut both the Golden Bears and Pandas swim programs at the end of the season.

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“It’s certainly near and dear to me. The news to me came as bit of a shock,” said Chris Bowie, in an interview with Postmedia last week.

“Everybody was hit pretty hard by the decision. This was dropped on the team (during mid-terms) without any warning or consultation. It was simply this is the way it is. It was harsh.”

On Oct. 28, the University of Alberta announced on its website that it had made the “difficult decision” to end the Bears and Pandas swim programs after the 2024/25 season.

The university said it made the decision due to both financial issues and no longer having a competitive swimming facility on campus.

Storied history

The swim programs at the U of A have competed at the varsity level since 1948 and have more than 500 alumni from the swim program that includes 12 members of the school’s Wall of Fame.

Today, there are 29 student-athletes on the Golden Bears and Pandas teams and three coaches.

Bowie said the loss of these programs will have a major impact on swimming in Edmonton.

“It’s going to have a huge (negative) impact,” said Bowie.

“You’ve got private swim clubs that ideally feed the program. The program at the U of A is closely tied to the Keyano Swim Club, and they pretty well operate as a single training squad.

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“It allowed many of these kids to stay home and have access to an incredible education and continue their training, and now they’re going to have to look outside of Edmonton and move away to pursue their studies and their university (swimming) careers.”

Former U of A Golden Bears and Pandas swimming head coach Derrick Schoof, who now coaches at his alma mater at the University of British Columbia (UBC), said the U of A’s decision to cut the swim programs will be felt among all the swim programs across the country.

“I think the sentiment among all coaches and anyone involved in Canadian university sport, we’re all very saddened and disappointed,” said Schoof, who last coached at the U of A in 2017.

“The U of A swim program has a very strong history, and it’s been around for many years. Edmonton itself has a very strong history for competitive swimming. I do understand this was a very difficult decision for the university. It wasn’t an easy decision whatsoever. I’m sure they’re all hurting about this decision.”

No further cuts have been announced among the Golden Bears and Pandas varsity programs. Bowie says he’s frustrated the swim program was targeted for cuts and that the university didn’t look to other areas for cost-saving measures.

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“We should first look at administration before we start to chew away at programs,” said Bowie.

“If you take a look at the disclosure list of salaries and the number of salaried positions at the U of A that are in excess of $150,000 a year, everyone seems to get a bonus, but we’re cutting a university program where kids were getting recruited to a varsity program?”

Can the program be saved?

Both Bowie and Schoof are hopeful the program can be saved or make a return at some point.

“I’m hopeful that something happens here. We have a lot of people putting in work to try and save it,” said Bowie.

“We need to look at every option to preserve it and convince the university this is a mistake, we need to save the program.”

jhills@postmedia.com

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