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.

Good article. People like Matt Grevers get full scholarships. Everyone else gets bits and pieces. Club swimming.....2000.00 a year for fees, competition, and equipment. State college with room and board, tuition, extra fees(every program seems to take on that 1-3K on top of tuition), books, 20K a year is the low. Best thing I did was get 529's for the kids, although I was too late to get my son 4 years, could not afford the payments. But that just covers tuition, the required dorm room, the books(he pays for them with his job and is now living at home), are mighty expensive. Anyway, back to the subject. Despite Geeks numbers, I know the coaches in this part of the country worry about the lower numbers of kids in general, and not just that, but that the more talented athletes are going to other sports. However, the upcoming Olympics always boosts the numbers in sports like swimming and gymnastics, so this year there will be a boost in numbers. What I do see is a big increase in summer rec swimming around here. That short 3 month light hearted atmosphere is appealing. You can always get a small percentage of these kids to at least try year round swimming.

Hi- I read the first two pages and then skipped the rest.... sorry. I have a 12 year old boy in my class, Clark, who was so happy that he went 4:58 in his 400 IM and 2:21 in his 200 fly. However, he was amazed that the winner of his 11-12 age group went 4:28 in the 400IM. HOLY COW! Quality vs. quantity? That's smokin'! BTW, an interesting note: Clark's dad does endurance running and frequently does 100 mi plus runs. And his mom is a marathoner. There's some good genes!

I just got caught up on this whole thread and Sam Perry was right: this debate needs the bezanator to rule on the scientific evidence within this thread. John and Paul (is the Geek Ringo?) are just looking for more John Wayne from this generation of U.S. male swimmers and seeing the Crying Game instead...

Despite Geeks numbers... USA Swimming's number, nationally, not local Illinois. I could counter that for all your gloom and doom where you live it is wildly popular and exploding here so let's not either of us generalize, ok? There are some downside with 529s also. That's their money, college or not. 529s cover much more than just tuition.

My town is building a grade school on the site of the old "black" YMCA (built by African-Americans when the town was segregated). The original plan had a swimming pool, in honor of the history of the site, but when the planned cost of the school went too high, the pool was the first thing to go. I'd love to see another pool in town, but these days, it's hard to justify something that takes up so much space - 6,000+ square feet with a 20- 30-foot ceiling - and is expensive to maintain (big heating bill, big insurance cost and needs at least one lifeguard while it's open).

Tuition and fees for college Illinois. No books, no dorm. I have a kid in college and that is the rules. Books, 500.00 and up a semester, dorm, 4000.00 a semester. Not covered under this plan. Education IRA's DO cover all of these expenses. Illinois has some really good swimmers coming out of it. However, the whole state is struggling with pool issues. Building new ones is a big issue. Just because your neck of the woods is fine and dandy, it does not mean there should not be concern for the places that are struggling. We did some things this year with the age group team that helped immensely, and I hope the momentum built this year continues, but the pool problem is big.

As an aside, I am freaking hooked on Guitar Hero. It is a blast!

It would be interesting to see if there is a reduction in numbers of competitive swimmers in northern states vs. southern. If a pool-building crunch (which we definitely see here... even in Naperville land of the yuppies) is squeezing swim teams, I'd expect the crunch would hit harder in areas with less access to outdoor facilities. It is a heckuva lot cheaper to build an outdoor pool than an indoor one. Geek, are your outdoor pools open an extended portion of the year... if not to the general public, then maybe to swimmers? Here in Naperville and around Dorothy's Champaign area, the outdoor season is strictly Memorial Day to Labor Day... There is no indoor LCM pool in this area which makes for some crowded scy pools Sept through May.

USA Swimming's number, nationally, not local Illinois. I could counter that for all your gloom and doom where you live it is wildly popular and exploding here so let's not either of us generalize, ok? Must be due to the arrival of Marsh eh Geek? Hopefully he doesn't bring along all the "baggage" that led to him fleeing Auburn!