Buy the Dartmouth Swim Team on eBay

In the late seventies my college team swam against Dartmouth. Generally they were a better team, and one of the highlights of my college career was winning the 200 fly 2 or 3 times in dual meets against them. I am saddened by the demise of this team. I do not think that a small college in the middle of nowhere needs to maintain travelling squads in every sport. I can see the logic of Dartmouth's decision to eliminate a small sport, rather than share cost cuts among all the teams, in a time of tough budgets. On the other hand, the cost of the swim team is small compared to the budget of the football team. Though no one from Dartmouth has publicly said it, given the equipment costs, travel costs, and size of competitive teams, football is one sport that I find hard for Dartmouth to justify.

In the late seventies my college team swam against Dartmouth. Generally they were a better team, and one of the highlights of my college career was winning the 200 fly 2 or 3 times in dual meets against them. I am saddened by the demise of this team. I do not think that a small college in the middle of nowhere needs to maintain travelling squads in every sport. I can see the logic of Dartmouth's decision to eliminate a small sport, rather than share cost cuts among all the teams, in a time of tough budgets. On the other hand, the cost of the swim team is small compared to the budget of the football team. Though no one from Dartmouth has publicly said it, given the equipment costs, travel costs, and size of competitive teams, football is one sport that I find hard for Dartmouth to justify.