Riptide swim club celebrates milestone of paying off share of Mitchell's indoor pool
· Yahoo Sports
Oct. 13—MITCHELL — The Dakota Riptide swim club's comeback story has reached a new high point.
A few years after being in trouble without funds coming in to pay its share of the $1 million fundraising pledge it made nearly a decade ago when the Mitchell Recreation Center pool was being built, the club said Tuesday that it has paid off its share of pool payments for the $8 million facility built in 2018.
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Former Dakota Riptide board president Jason Wede said a local anonymous donor gave the Dakota Riptide the final $75,000 needed to meet the club's obligation to pay off the final payments for the pool.
"I happened to have the right conversation with the right person at the right time," Wede said of the donation.
Wede said the donor's family members use the pool every day but weren't involved with swimming when the pool was being constructed. Wede said the donor wanted to be involved now to help swimming in Mitchell.
Wede, who has been involved with swimming in Mitchell for 16 years as his kids have grown older, said getting the pool paid off was at the top of his list of goals for the club. He recently handed the reins as board president to Kelly Pfeifer.
Both men represented the Riptide on Tuesday afternoon at the Mitchell Sports and Events Authority meeting, as they sought grant money for hosting swim meets this season and briefed the board on the pool being paid off.
Four years ago, in 2022, the Riptide was in much more dire straits. When the pool was constructed, the Mitchell Aquatic Club (which was the Riptide's predecessor club) pledged $1 million in fundraising to pay for the pool, which was to be paid over five years at $200,000 annually.
Coming off the coronavirus pandemic and the pool repairs that kept swimmers out of practice or competition in Mitchell for nine months, the Riptide fell behind on payments. The pool issues drove away swimmers to other communities and the team's coach left the job. The club said at the time that if things didn't turn around, it would have to consider ceasing operations.
In 2024, with the club still owing $168,886, the city's Business Improvement District No. 4 approved funding assistance for the swim club at an amount of $90,000, applied at a rate of $30,000 a year for three years. That money came from the $2 per night surcharge that is applied for hotel room nights in the city. The BID board approved that measure when the Riptide asked for help paying down the balance of what it owed.
For the pool to now be paid off, Wede said it's been very fulfilling and the product of a lot of hard work.
"When the pool broke down, we were in a tough spot, we wanted to get things turned around," he said. "We got a head coach and we got the pool paid off. We're excited that we're in a much better spot than we were three years ago. ... We've got a really good swim lesson program that gets them started."
Wede said the Riptide has more than 90 swimmers in the club again, which is close to its all-time high of 97, with about 70 of those swimmers in the Mitchell area and another 20 from the Huron area. Former Mitchell swimmer Christian Fossum has been the Riptide coach since June 2023, and he was recognized as the state's swim coach of the year in 2025.
With the pool back in regular use, the Riptide has gotten in a regular schedule of hosting a few regular-season swim meets each winter. Wede said the Riptide and Mitchell has gotten a lot of good feedback about the pool and the community as a host for competitions.
"(Swimmers) like the pool, it's one of the nicest ones in the state," Wede said. "And then we have several amenities in Mitchell, too, for visitors. We have plenty of hotels. We've got plenty of restaurants. We usually have pretty good weather, too, compared to some places."
The Riptide will host a three-day meet in December and a two-day meet in January. It is also in line to host the South Dakota Swimming Rising Stars meet at the end of February 2027, which is a last-chance qualifier before the state meet. Mitchell hosted the 2026 state 13-and-over state championships in 2026.
"We've got one of the better facilities to hold a meet that size," Wede said. "Probably the people that it affects the most are the Mitchell parents of the swim club that are doing all the work and making sure everything goes off without a hitch. It puts a lot of pressure on us to get volunteers to help with our club. But the end of the day, it helps bring money into, not just our town but to our club and it helps all of the things we want to do as a club, as well."
Pfeifer said Mitchell's swim meet successes are also a credit to the staff at the Rec Center.
"We're fortunate to have the relationship we have with the people at the Rec Center and with the city of Mitchell that worked with us," he said. "This is a big day for our swim club."