I just heard that two more universities, Rutgers and James Madison, are ditching men's swimming while spending zillions on football and golf. My own alma mater almost cut women's swimming several years ago. They were saved by alumni fundraising, but not until the swim team put itself up for sale on ebay. Endurance sports get no respect. It makes no sense. I thought open water swimming and triathlons and road racing were on the rise even among young kids. If so, why cut all those sports in college? I guess it's still just a miniscule percentage that participate compared to other sports, like my least favorite youth sport -- travel soccer.
What is really bad right now is the U of I has their big 50 meter pool closed for 2 years, renovating it. So the women's team had to rent outside the U of I to get pool time. The pool they rented had a fire in July so it is closed waiting for a part. They are driving to another town 45 minutes away to practice. In September, they practiced outdoors at a local country club, and it was one of the coldest Septembers we have had in a long while.
What is really bad right now is the U of I has their big 50 meter pool closed for 2 years, renovating it. So the women's team had to rent outside the U of I to get pool time. The pool they rented had a fire in July so it is closed waiting for a part. They are driving to another town 45 minutes away to practice. In September, they practiced outdoors at a local country club, and it was one of the coldest Septembers we have had in a long while.
