A commemorative plaque hangs high above Webster Pool on the left wall. Across the bottom are the words ‘Mr. SU Swimming,’ and four pictures of the same man surround the plaque.

From his perch above the water, Ted Webster has been watching over the SU swimming and diving program since his retirement as coach in 1965 (after a 36-year career beginning in 1929). Though the swimming complex may bear his name, it is, in many ways, the house that current Syracuse swimming coach Lou Walker built.

‘I swam my first meet here in the fall of 1971,’ Walker said. ‘And it’s been home ever since, for the last 40 years.’

Walker set seven school records during his own SU swimming career from 1971 to 1975. In 1976, he took over as coach and has held the position ever since. Joining him is his wife Ellie Walker, a former swimming coach at nearby Baldwinsville High School. She became Walker’s assistant and recruiting coordinator in 1994.

The Walkers have instilled a family atmosphere that makes Webster Pool a figurative second home for the SU swimmers.

‘I’m going to miss the coaches most,’ SU senior Kuba Kotynia said. ‘They just care so much about us, not just in the pool but in the rest of our lives. This pool is our home because they make it a home.’

For Walker, it’s a home that hasn’t changed much since he’s been here. After it opened in 1950, the six-lane, 25-meter, 600-seat Webster Pool was utilized frequently as a site for the NCAA Championships.

But with current standards mandating more expansive venues for all conference and NCAA championships, Webster Pool is no longer suited to host such events.

Yet Webster Pool had one last weekend of competition left in it. This past weekend, SU hosted its first home meet of the season and just its eighth in the last three seasons. But it was also the last home meet in the history of the program, in a pool that will always hold emotional significance for the thousands of SU swimmers who have called it home over the course of the last 61 years.

‘Every time I swim in this pool, I think about all the great swimmers that have swam here,’ SU senior swimmer Katie Lewinski said. ‘It’s an honor to be able to share this pool with them.’

In a setting that has hosted more than 500 swim meets with more than 1,000 swimmers, Walker’s face sticks out among the blur.

With the final meet over, Walker takes a moment to himself and looks up at the pictures of Ted Webster. He lets out a sigh. Not much has changed since he’s been here, but that doesn’t mean he’s ready to give it up.

The blue and orange Big East championship banners from 1980, 1982, and 1996 hang on the wall. But one thing stands out to the legendary SU coach. He points specifically to the pictures lining the walls of his former swimmers and teams. All memories now but all serving as small reminders of a rich family-oriented history.

Walker’s moment is interrupted by a mother and her young son. It’s a young swimmer who just won his first race, his mother says.

Suddenly, the disappointment and sadness fades away as the love of the sport comes out in Walker. He picks up the kid, hugs him and tells him to make sure he has fun every time he jumps in the pool.

The young boy smiles and says, ‘I promise.’

‘This really tugs at your heartstrings,’ Walker said. ‘But the history of this pool and this program will never be lost because the sport is in good hands.’

jdsaffre@syr.edu

 

Published on February 7, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Jarrad: jdsaffre@syr.edu