Terrible. My alma mater (St. John's University) also cut its swim team; they had one year after my senior year and then it was dropped. I was around for the discussions with school administration, which I would categorize as a complete sham.
By the time the school goes public with it, they've already made up their mind and there's no turning back. I'm not aware of any DI school successfully bucking the trend. Some programs have managed to retain the team, but without scholarships (Cincinnati) or with limited funding (ASU). Providing opportunities to swim is great, but the teams are far less competitive as a result. In part, there is the constant threat of complete shutdown of the program that it is difficult to recruit.
I wish them best of luck though.
I think there have been a few successful saves. I think one of the Iveys got a $2,000,000 permanent fund, which seems to be the only route that is permanent.
The athletic department didn't have the funds to build the pool so they "combined" resources with another department. Swimmers were recruited under false pretense.
No kidding ...
That was my school. The swimmers first listed the team for sale on ebay. That seemed to grab everyone's attention, and a huge alumni fund raising effort was ultimately successful. However, there are no athletic scholarships. And the pool is beyond ancient, while there are some spanking new other athletic facilities there.
Yes, i saw that they were cutting swimming, along with great amount of other sports at UMD. I would think that the state university woud be the last one to lose a sports team.
Terrible. My alma mater (St. John's University) also cut its swim team; they had one year after my senior year and then it was dropped. I was around for the discussions with school administration, which I would categorize as a complete sham.
By the time the school goes public with it, they've already made up their mind and there's no turning back. I'm not aware of any DI school successfully bucking the trend. Some programs have managed to retain the team, but without scholarships (Cincinnati) or with limited funding (ASU). Providing opportunities to swim is great, but the teams are far less competitive as a result. In part, there is the constant threat of complete shutdown of the program that it is difficult to recruit.
I wish them best of luck though.
I think there have been a few successful saves. I think one of the Iveys got a $2,000,000 permanent fund, which seems to be the only route that is permanent.
It appears that the athletic department agreed to rent the facility from the rec department. This seems silly and inconsequential, but it indicates that the funds were not there in the first place. The athletic department didn't have the funds to build the pool so they "combined" resources with another department. Swimmers were recruited under false pretense.
