Gender Gap in Swimming

I was in HS from 1964-1967 and the sports opportunities for women were very limited - I think just softball and field hockey. The same girls that I swam with in our winter AAU and summer club teams, and would see in the HS hallways, could not swim on the all-boys HS swim team! It was ridiculous and discriminatory. There were clearly old victorian attitudes amongst some adults about what women should and shouldn't be able to do. Still earlier than that in the 1950s, when I swam for a mixed YMCA team, there were Ys in the NYC area where women we not even allowed at all. The civil rights and womens movement changed these attitudes and conditions. Title IX made high schools and colleges change. Although it was enacted by Congress in 1972, like other legislation, nothing happened until the regulations were published in 1978 and wiki indicates colleges were still given 3 years more to comply (so effects starting maybe 1981ish??). There have been subsequent supreme court decisions and additional congressional ammendments to Title IX to take us to where we are today. Hopefully many HSs and colleges recognized the inequities some time before they were required to comply in 1981, and began to incorporate women's sport into their progams. A 13 or 14 year old women entering HS in about 1981 would now be in her mid-40s, and so perhaps from that age and older, women would have greatly benefited from Title IX. My daughter swam on a mixed HS team in about 2000, was Captain and competed with my middle son (she could kick his butt in Fr, but not Br). However, my sister, who is a few years younger than me and was a very good swimmer, did not have the opportunity to even swim in HS. She went to IU and related that at one point Dr. Counsilman spotted her swimming in their pool and asked her to contact the women's coach and go out for the women's team - so I know at least IU had a women's team at that point in the early 70s. She did not have HS coaches, recruiting, etc. to help her and elected not swim further. Is there still a gender gap? Others younger than I will have to answer that. As with overcoming most "old-boy" stuff, it will probably take continued effort to conitnue progress.

I was in HS from 1964-1967 and the sports opportunities for women were very limited - I think just softball and field hockey. The same girls that I swam with in our winter AAU and summer club teams, and would see in the HS hallways, could not swim on the all-boys HS swim team! It was ridiculous and discriminatory. There were clearly old victorian attitudes amongst some adults about what women should and shouldn't be able to do. Still earlier than that in the 1950s, when I swam for a mixed YMCA team, there were Ys in the NYC area where women we not even allowed at all. The civil rights and womens movement changed these attitudes and conditions. Title IX made high schools and colleges change. Although it was enacted by Congress in 1972, like other legislation, nothing happened until the regulations were published in 1978 and wiki indicates colleges were still given 3 years more to comply (so effects starting maybe 1981ish??). There have been subsequent supreme court decisions and additional congressional ammendments to Title IX to take us to where we are today. Hopefully many HSs and colleges recognized the inequities some time before they were required to comply in 1981, and began to incorporate women's sport into their progams. A 13 or 14 year old women entering HS in about 1981 would now be in her mid-40s, and so perhaps from that age and older, women would have greatly benefited from Title IX. My daughter swam on a mixed HS team in about 2000, was Captain and competed with my middle son (she could kick his butt in Fr, but not Br). However, my sister, who is a few years younger than me and was a very good swimmer, did not have the opportunity to even swim in HS. She went to IU and related that at one point Dr. Counsilman spotted her swimming in their pool and asked her to contact the women's coach and go out for the women's team - so I know at least IU had a women's team at that point in the early 70s. She did not have HS coaches, recruiting, etc. to help her and elected not swim further. Is there still a gender gap? Others younger than I will have to answer that. As with overcoming most "old-boy" stuff, it will probably take continued effort to conitnue progress.