Phillip Whitten is trying to say that there were as much womens programs in swimming than men's programs in the 1970's and early 1980's. I disagree for one, many women that are just a few years older than me didn't swim in college. For starters top swimmers like Laurie Val in her early 50's didn't swim in colllege. There were a lot less programs for women than the male swimmers and only a few women got scholorships to swim in college. Also, I swam at the Community College level and a year before I started they just added 100 yard swims for women in back, fly and ***. They the California JR's still don't have the 200 yard distances but the women voted to keep the 50 distances instead. The male swimmers at the community college had two practices a day during their prime workout season while the women had one when I swam back in the 1970's. The male swimmers had state while the women's program added state after I left. I understand Mr Whitten being upset about elminating men's programs but that doesn't excuse him for changing history and stating that women had as many programs as the men did by 1981.
Parents
Former Member
Rob,
I have four words for you and your swimmin' son, "Division II or III." In the early 80's I walked on to a Div III program after only 3 years of competitive swimming in high school. Judging by what I'm seeing right now, I could do the same today if I was 18 and had the same times. These non-scholarship teams are the real gems of college athletics, throw-backs to when "student-athlete" actually fit the dictionary definition. I had a chance to participate in what was the most serious, intense swimming program of my life, AND still have it fit into getting a good education. As a group, the people on the college swim team did BETTER academically than the general student population. In my class there were 4 of us who swam all 4 years on the team; each and every one of us graduated with some form of academic distinction (*** laude or better). Talk to most scholarship athletes in a Div I program, and they will tell you about a committment to athletics that felt more like a job than an enjoyable activity, and the competition for their time that made getting an education a challenge.
The other little secret to small school athletics is that in some ways they are SAFER from budget cuts than Div I scholarship programs. Think about it. At my school, we had a football team, but it was not the AD's cash cow, and it had no greater claim to the college's mission than any of the other sports. Ergo, no "arms race" for lavish funding of "revenue sports," and no constant threat of cuts to feed that monster. We could never imagine competing with, oh say, Univ of Illinois or UCLA, but hey, in a couple of weeks I actually get to participate in a varsity vs. alumni swim meet.
How do you find these programs? Simple, keep looking until you do. I have avoided mentioning my school (BTW, Lake Forest College, just north of Chicago with excellent transportation links to the city, excellent academics, www.lfc.edu, the coach Alec Webster would be delighted to chat with any swimmers wanting to look at the program) because it is not at all unique. There are plenty of schools out there, just add to your criteria for a school "must have Div I/II/III swim program." I did. I could have gone to several schools that were solid academically, small liberal arts colleges but no swim team, or I could have gone to an academically shakey school with a swim team. I simply insisted on looking until I found one that had all those things, and we could make work with our family finances. BTW, if you like the idea of a Service Academy education that is paid for, consider the Coast Guard Academy and the Merchant Marine Academy, which last time I checked, still had Div III swimming.
So, my advice is don't give up, but consider programs other than the Univ of Auburn or Michigan. Training with future Olympians is nice, but not the only kind of college swimming out there.
Matt
Rob,
I have four words for you and your swimmin' son, "Division II or III." In the early 80's I walked on to a Div III program after only 3 years of competitive swimming in high school. Judging by what I'm seeing right now, I could do the same today if I was 18 and had the same times. These non-scholarship teams are the real gems of college athletics, throw-backs to when "student-athlete" actually fit the dictionary definition. I had a chance to participate in what was the most serious, intense swimming program of my life, AND still have it fit into getting a good education. As a group, the people on the college swim team did BETTER academically than the general student population. In my class there were 4 of us who swam all 4 years on the team; each and every one of us graduated with some form of academic distinction (*** laude or better). Talk to most scholarship athletes in a Div I program, and they will tell you about a committment to athletics that felt more like a job than an enjoyable activity, and the competition for their time that made getting an education a challenge.
The other little secret to small school athletics is that in some ways they are SAFER from budget cuts than Div I scholarship programs. Think about it. At my school, we had a football team, but it was not the AD's cash cow, and it had no greater claim to the college's mission than any of the other sports. Ergo, no "arms race" for lavish funding of "revenue sports," and no constant threat of cuts to feed that monster. We could never imagine competing with, oh say, Univ of Illinois or UCLA, but hey, in a couple of weeks I actually get to participate in a varsity vs. alumni swim meet.
How do you find these programs? Simple, keep looking until you do. I have avoided mentioning my school (BTW, Lake Forest College, just north of Chicago with excellent transportation links to the city, excellent academics, www.lfc.edu, the coach Alec Webster would be delighted to chat with any swimmers wanting to look at the program) because it is not at all unique. There are plenty of schools out there, just add to your criteria for a school "must have Div I/II/III swim program." I did. I could have gone to several schools that were solid academically, small liberal arts colleges but no swim team, or I could have gone to an academically shakey school with a swim team. I simply insisted on looking until I found one that had all those things, and we could make work with our family finances. BTW, if you like the idea of a Service Academy education that is paid for, consider the Coast Guard Academy and the Merchant Marine Academy, which last time I checked, still had Div III swimming.
So, my advice is don't give up, but consider programs other than the Univ of Auburn or Michigan. Training with future Olympians is nice, but not the only kind of college swimming out there.
Matt
