Nadadores Getting Back in the Swim

The scoreboard was malfunctioning.

It was just days before the Swim Meet of Champions--one of the Mission Viejo Nadadores’ showcase events--and the most important piece of equipment, the timing clock, was on the blink.

In the golden days, back when checkbook swimming was all the rage around the Marguerite International Swim Complex, the solution was simple. A phone call to Colorado Springs brought a specialist and, $1,500 later, the problem was solved.

Thanks a lot and send the bill to the Mission Viejo Company.

But now it was left up to Brian Murphy to tinker with the scoreboard. Same result, less the cost.

“My husband works in electronics and he had the guy from Colorado Springs down once to show him how everything worked,” said Louise Murphy, president of the Nadadores Foundation. “Now, instead of paying $1,500, it costs us 50 cents for parts. It’s nice having people using their talents for the club.”

It’s not only nice, it’s pretty much necessary these days.

The Nadadores had the financial rug yanked from beneath them last August when the Mission Viejo Company ceased to be their benefactor. Over the years, the company had provided everything-- everything --the club needed. In return, the community got a squeaky-clean, chlorine image that helped to sell houses.

Well, the homes were sold and the company divested from Mission Viejo, leaving the Nadadores high and dry. Yet, the club has managed just fine.

By cost-cutting and fund-raising, the Nadadores have survived. They endured a year of transition, which included a debate with the city over who would finance the pool, and have emerged no worse off then they were before.

There is no longer an unlimited supply of cash, which brought and bought 19 combined national championships, but the team is standing on its own. They may never again be the power that devastated the competition in national meets, but they remain competitive and solvent.

“We’ve been able to pay our coaches, pay for running our meets and pay for the kids to travel,” Murphy said. “We’ve cut some things and have been able to use the talent available to us (to run the club). We meet the needs.”

The deep pockets the Mission Viejo Company provided were hard to fill.

The company supplied approximately $400,000 a year to run the club and also picked up the tab to maintain the pools at the Marguerite International Swim Complex, which cost another $250,000-$350,000 yearly. But the club was on its on own as of Sept. 1.

But the Nadadores didn’t exactly have to stand on freeway off-ramps with cardboard signs to survive. The company sponsorship may be gone, but there are still very definite advantages to having a swim club in Mission Viejo.

For starters, there was money from other sponsors in the area--a Chrysler dealership and Coca-Cola franchise have continued their support. The city has agreed to cover the maintenance cost for the complex for at least another year.

The foundation has been able to cover its operating costs through swim-a-thons, opportunity drawings and various other fund-raisers.

The dues to swimmers have not gone up, but the swimmers have had to contribute in other ways.

“We’ve had to sell tickets for (opportunity drawings) and things like that,” said swimmer Cathy Carone, 15. “That stuff was new for us. That’s OK. It helped the club.”

Besides raising money, the club has saved some as well. They looked for ways to cut corners and not hurt the program. In doing so, they found a lot of fat that could be trimmed.

The club had always hired a disc jockey to work at the Swim Meet of Champions. This year, they invested $400 for a compact disc player. The cost was slightly more than what the DJ would cost, but it will save money in the long run.

Equipment, such as the scoreboard, is now fixed in-house when possible.

The swimmers haven’t been completely untouched by cuts. There have been reductions in some swimming equipment and services.

“There are differences,” said Siga Rose, the head age-group coach. “The kids have to bring their own kick boards. They were provided before.”

Swimmers have their travel expenses paid by the club most of the time. But last weekend, Lisa Jacob, who also swims for Stanford, had to pay her own way to get to a meet in Santa Clara. Most of the rest of team was competing in a meet at USC.

“I wanted to see some friends up in the Bay (Area), so I chose to go to that meet instead,” Jacob said. “I didn’t mind paying.”

Money was only half of the void created by the company’s pull out. Many of the club’s operations were left unattended.

The program had to return to its roots--the parents--to maintain the day-to-day operations.

“Parents have to make the team go now,” Siga Rose said. “They have to answer phones and type newsletters. Trips used to be planned for us. They would just hand us plane tickets and hotel reservations. Now, parents have to plan and coordinate.”

Finding volunteers was easy, according to Murphy. After all, in an upscale community, most of the parents were professional workers with skills that fit the Nadadores’ needs.

One of the club’s coaches had experience in publishing, so he does the club’s newsletter. Parents are pressed into service as photographers.

When the club needed timers for a swim meet, a group of senior citizens were recruited. A group of parents do the club’s paperwork at home on their personal computers.

“We have some outstanding talent to draw from,” Murphy said. “Our parents are attorneys, doctors, computer experts, clerical experts. We have presidents of companies who have managerial expertise. We have people who know how to pick up the ball and get done what needs to be done.”

The most significant contribution the parents have made, however, has been their mere presence during negotiations with the city.

The Mission Viejo Company traded its three recreation facilities to the city for an office building, according to former Nadadores Foundation president Alex Dean. That caused concern about the cost of maintaining the Nadadores’ facility. Some felt the club didn’t serve the entire community.

There was talk of converting the pools used by the Nadadores into another type of recreation facility, such as a skating rink or a miniature golf course, or even building condominiums on the site.

Such ideas drew sharp reactions. City council meetings were packed. Support even came from the community’s junior All-American football program and AYSO.

“We recognized that the Nadadores’ program benefits the entire community,” Mission Viejo Mayor Bob Breton said. “The prestige the Nadadores has brought to the community has been important. Property values are higher. Children have been kept off the street and in the pool. Undeniably, this is a program that every council member would love to see continue.”

But at what cost?

The maintenance of the facility was a burden some members of the council wanted the Nadadores to shoulder.

“The city traded for the pools, so they are the city’s pools,” Dean said.

There was some dispute about the yearly operating cost of the facility. City and Nadadores officials came up with estimates that were about $100,000 apart, according to Breton.

After some heated discussions in meetings, the council voted, 5-0, to cover the costs for a year to determine the exact amount.

As part of the deal, the Nadadores had their time in the pool reduced. The pools must be available for public recreation and services two-thirds of the day, according to Breton.

The council will vote again on maintaining the facility in April.

“It will give us time to assess the feasibility of allowing the public to use the facility,” Breton said. “Call it a stay of execution.”

Just how successful the program will remain is still unknown. Rose took over after Terry Stoddard resigned last September and was asked to restore the Nadadores to their former greatness.

A difficult task.

No club team ever dominated swimming like the Nadadores did. It’s unlikely any team will again, because of the Nadadores.

They won combined national championships from 1974-87, all but two of which were under the direction of Mark Schubert, now the coach at USC. They were led by talent such as Brian Goodell, Shirley Babashoff, Arthur Wojdat and Greg Louganis--all Olympic medalists.

But Schubert’s methods were controversial. People complained that the Nadadores “hired” swimmers from outside of Mission Viejo and outside the United States.

Expenses were paid for all who wanted to compete for the team at the U.S. senior nationals. Schubert said he was only providing opportunities for swimmers to compete who otherwise could not afford to go to the nationals.

Always the Mission Viejo Company was willing to foot the bill.

“The company viewed swimming as a great family activity,” Schubert said. “It was good having the corporate support. If we had a good reason to do something, they would find a way to get it done.”

And the return on that investment?

“I always felt we put Mission Viejo on the map,” Schubert said.

Schubert is right. Mission Viejo became the center of the swimming world. Swimmers from all over, like Poland’s Wojdat, came to train. They also competed in the nationals wearing the Nadadores’ colors.

“I remember when I was young and hearing all the stories,” said Jacob, who has been with the Nadadores for 12 years. “It must have been great to see all that blue and gold swarming on the pool deck at the nationals.”

Others didn’t find it so great. In fact, rules have since been enacted to prevent a club from dominating the way the Nadadores did.

The most significant, is the one stating that a swimmer who is not a U.S. citizen cannot compete in the nationals, which may be Schubert’s legacy.

“It got to the point where he was the only one who had the checkbook to do what he did, so it became ridiculous,” Bill Rose said. “The Swedish national team would come here for a couple of weeks to train and Mark would sign them up and take them to nationals. You know the margins they were winning by.

“That and jealousy, of course, led to the legislation against foreigners. Even the ones who come here to train and live here all year can’t score for you at nationals, so much of our strength has been legislated away.”

Whether that strength can be returned is doubtful, at least under the current rules. But the foundation for a strong program remains.

The Nadadores finished first at the Junior Olympics this year. They have seven swimmers who have qualified for the senior nationals and 18 for junior nationals.

Their membership numbers are growing, as well. They have 340 swimmers, up from 219 a year ago.

But Rose said the situation will never again be right for domination.

“You’re never going to win a national championship with totally home-grown kids,” Rose said “You can be the best coach in the world, but if you don’t have the bodies, it isn’t going to happen.

Times staff writer John Weyler contributed to this story.