David Marsh is leaving Auburn?

My thoughts on the move are it is great for US Swimming. You take top post-graduate US swimmers and put them back in a club swimming environment. Let the Olympic hopefuls of today swim with the Olympic hopefuls of tomorrow. As John may have pointed out once, many college programs have become increasing dependent on foreign athletes. Now, US swimmers will have an elite environment to train in. If Marsh is successful, it will be an environment that understands they are not college swimmers any more and allows them to continue to grow as professional swimmers. I think it will be interesting to see how many Centers of Excellence are created around the country and where they end up.

I have never been so excited and I live in California!!! :woot: :woot:

And why are some of his top swimmers leaving him come summer? I really can't blame them for not wanting to stick around Alabama over the summer!

What exactly is a "Center of Excellence"? This question is addressed nicely in a Swimming World TV segment on their site.