The Demise of Mens Swimming in the US

Though I see the reasons for the hand-wringing (UCLA clearly made a boneheaded decision), the sport of men’s swimming – and swimming in general among kids or in colleges – doesn’t appear to be drying up. In Southern California high schools, where water polo has a strong pull, swimming continues to attract a crowd. An extreme example is a public high school to the east of Los Angeles: according to a masters’ swimmer who fills his retirement as a volunteer assistant coach, that school team has more than 100 swimmers – and that’s after they cut the team. Nor does it appear that we’re running out of pools in the Los Angeles area. There are plenty of short-course pools for those who can’t stand the public beaches, and swimmers have more choices in the surrounding communities. For example, here’s our public pool, which is walking distance from the Los Angeles city limit: www.smgov.net/.../index.htm. Now, about the problem of men’s swimming in colleges: The apparent erosion of scholarships won't kill this sport. Most swimmers on Division I teams don’t have athletic scholarships (Division I rules allow fewer than 10 for swimmers). Division III, the most pure of the divisions, allows no athletic scholarships in any sport. Yet, there are opportunities for kids to swim while also getting a decent and appropriate education. Even Division III can be a lot of fun for accomplished swimmers (the Div. III men’s nationals are ending today: www.ncaaresults.com/.../index.htm Or: www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../17561.asp) and it offers opportunities to kids who get into the pool late (I saw a Div. III meet this year that featured a kid who could barely make a 200-free but gamely took the plunge in order to fill out his school’s “C” team in the 800-Free Relay: his teammates crowded the deck at the end of his lane to cheer him to his exhausting finish). In fact, in our modern age, your education won't turn on an athletic scholarship. Many schools – and, especially, the top-tier colleges and universities that are more selective in their admissions – offer need-based financial aid. Compared with the kids who spend all their time in the library, an accomplished swimmer – a boy or a girl – is an attractive candidate for college admission and financial aid. Consider one such Division I school that is competitive in many sports (though its swimming teams perform in line with its appallingly bad football teams). This school admits freshman classes of about 1,600 and this spring is likely to reject more than half of the 1,600 applicants who had combined SAT scores (math plus critical reasoning) of more than 1,500 – just as it’s likely to reject about two-thirds of those who will graduate as their high schools’ valedictorians. Instead, its admissions office will send “fat envelops” to kids who are well rounded: these kids have great scores and grades but also are accomplished in something else like swimming. Once admitted, the school's decision on financial aid is based solely on financial need. Now, I agree, it would be nice if athletic departments, especially at big schools, were to get over their football fixations, and it would have been be nice if the choices imposed by Title IX hadn’t exposed the athletic departments’ perennial preferences for sports like football that in most schools lose buckets of money. But, with apologies for the long post, I think determined kids - boys and girls - who hit the books and the pool with equal vigor and who look in the right places will be able to find (and pay for) an appropriate and decent education that also allows them to enjoy the fun of swimming on a college team.

Though I see the reasons for the hand-wringing (UCLA clearly made a boneheaded decision), the sport of men’s swimming – and swimming in general among kids or in colleges – doesn’t appear to be drying up. In Southern California high schools, where water polo has a strong pull, swimming continues to attract a crowd. An extreme example is a public high school to the east of Los Angeles: according to a masters’ swimmer who fills his retirement as a volunteer assistant coach, that school team has more than 100 swimmers – and that’s after they cut the team. Nor does it appear that we’re running out of pools in the Los Angeles area. There are plenty of short-course pools for those who can’t stand the public beaches, and swimmers have more choices in the surrounding communities. For example, here’s our public pool, which is walking distance from the Los Angeles city limit: www.smgov.net/.../index.htm. Now, about the problem of men’s swimming in colleges: The apparent erosion of scholarships won't kill this sport. Most swimmers on Division I teams don’t have athletic scholarships (Division I rules allow fewer than 10 for swimmers). Division III, the most pure of the divisions, allows no athletic scholarships in any sport. Yet, there are opportunities for kids to swim while also getting a decent and appropriate education. Even Division III can be a lot of fun for accomplished swimmers (the Div. III men’s nationals are ending today: www.ncaaresults.com/.../index.htm Or: www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../17561.asp) and it offers opportunities to kids who get into the pool late (I saw a Div. III meet this year that featured a kid who could barely make a 200-free but gamely took the plunge in order to fill out his school’s “C” team in the 800-Free Relay: his teammates crowded the deck at the end of his lane to cheer him to his exhausting finish). In fact, in our modern age, your education won't turn on an athletic scholarship. Many schools – and, especially, the top-tier colleges and universities that are more selective in their admissions – offer need-based financial aid. Compared with the kids who spend all their time in the library, an accomplished swimmer – a boy or a girl – is an attractive candidate for college admission and financial aid. Consider one such Division I school that is competitive in many sports (though its swimming teams perform in line with its appallingly bad football teams). This school admits freshman classes of about 1,600 and this spring is likely to reject more than half of the 1,600 applicants who had combined SAT scores (math plus critical reasoning) of more than 1,500 – just as it’s likely to reject about two-thirds of those who will graduate as their high schools’ valedictorians. Instead, its admissions office will send “fat envelops” to kids who are well rounded: these kids have great scores and grades but also are accomplished in something else like swimming. Once admitted, the school's decision on financial aid is based solely on financial need. Now, I agree, it would be nice if athletic departments, especially at big schools, were to get over their football fixations, and it would have been be nice if the choices imposed by Title IX hadn’t exposed the athletic departments’ perennial preferences for sports like football that in most schools lose buckets of money. But, with apologies for the long post, I think determined kids - boys and girls - who hit the books and the pool with equal vigor and who look in the right places will be able to find (and pay for) an appropriate and decent education that also allows them to enjoy the fun of swimming on a college team.