MADISON — A southern Indiana school district has pulled the plug on its high school's swimming pool in a cost-saving move that's left the school's swim team high and dry.

Southwestern High School's pool was closed April 1 and will be emptied and left dry for the next six months, saving the district about $50,000 in lean fiscal times, said Southwestern Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Steve Telfer.

"We have to protect ourselves," he said. "We have a cash balance to protect. We have $600,000 to reduce from the general fund. Budgets are tight right now in the state."

The Madison Courier reports that the pool won't reopen until Oct. 1, meaning that the high school girls and boys swim teams will have only about a month of preseason time in the pool before the first meet in late October.

Without the pool, the athletic teams will have to condition on dry land with weight room training and running before hitting the pool months later.

Southwestern High School junior Susie Philipp said she loves swimming so much she spends her weekends not with friends, like most teens, but at the gym or the high school's pool.

"This pool is my life," she said. "It's my ticket into college."

Philipp said she was upset when she heard that the school district was going to close the pool, which middle school students also use, for six months of the year to save money.

She said she understands why the decision was made.

"From an outside view, it was the right decision, but I am not on the outside. I am on the inside. I understand times are hard and they had to make budget cuts. I am just disappointed," Philipp said. "Our preseason is cut and we can't accomplish the goals we set for next year without spending time in the pool."

Since the pool is now officially closed, she's looking for other swimming options by joining a local swim club or finding another pool to use.

Her father, Craig Philipp, said he feels the district reached a compromise in deciding to close the pool for only half the year, when it could have closed the pool permanently.

"It's a lot of money. They did say we could raise money privately to keep the pool open during the closed months. I appreciate the offer. I would love for the pool to be open year-round," he said.

The cost of maintaining the school's 37-year-old swimming pool is about $100,000 a year, including $60,000 in power bills, $22,000 for repairs and upkeep and $4,000 for water to fill and keep the water level maintained at the proper leave.

And Telfer said there's also the cost of salaries for lifeguards and natural gas bills for heating the area around the pool to 83 degrees year-round.

"We don't want to go broke," he said. "... We like our swim program. It's just really costly."