University of Maine Foundation

Krystal Fogler of New Rochelle, N.Y., set 10 school records — five individual and five on relay teams — as a student at the University of Maine. Last year, she completed a degree in kinesiology and physical education, and was named Maine Athlete of the Year. Fogler is the great-granddaughter of the late Raymond Fogler, the UMaine benefactor for whom the university library is named. Photo by Monty Rand

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Diving In

Garth Chandler knows the difference a good sports program can mean to college students and the community.

When his two daughters were growing up, they participated in youth competitive swim programs and swam throughout high school on a total of seven Maine State Championship teams. When it was time to go to college, they both chose the University of Maine, in part, because of its Swimming and Diving Program. Both were members of the UMaine team as undergraduates and then went on to attain graduate degrees at the university.

Chandler, who also is a swimming and diving official, says the University of Maine provides the unique opportunity for Maine youth who swim competitively to remain in state and compete at the Division I college level.

In 1991, 20 years after its inception, budget cuts threatened the program. That's when Chandler and other parents of swimmers, as well as state swimming officials, alumni and friends, got together to find a way to ensure the program's future. They formed the Maine Swimming and Diving Group to raise money for an endowed fund in the University of Maine Foundation.

The foundation was instrumental in the fund-raising efforts. To draw attention to the intercollegiate program, head coach Jeff Wren swam 65 miles of Maine's Penobscot River in four days.

One of the first contributions came from UMaine alumni and authors Stephen and Tabitha King.

The following year, the nonprofit Maine Swimming and Diving Corp., was established to oversee the allocation of endowment funds for the program's operating expenses.

"With a long-term funding goal of $1.2 million, we needed an endowment fund," says Chandler, who serves as clerk of the corporation. "The program and university facilities serve well the youth of the state of Maine. Interest in swimming, for sport or recreation, whether participant or spectator, can last a lifetime. It is important to keep the program alive."