Chalk one up for the good guys. Earlier this month, the Saginaw Valley State University (Michigan) Board of Directors approved the addition of both men’s and women’s swim teams. The women will begin in 2014-2015, and the men will join in 2015-2016.
“The University and our department have carefully considered the addition of swimming to varsity status, and we feel the time is right to make this move,” said Athletics Director Mike Watson. “With the renovations that were made a few years ago to the Gerstacker Regional Aquatics Center, this move only made sense. This addition will also serve as a great benefit to the university in general in attracting prospective students.”
In that first season, where there is only a women’s program, they will receive four out of a maximum 8.1 scholarships.
The team will compete in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC): an NCAA Division II powerhouse that has 8 other schools that support the sport. That includes programs like Grand Valley State and Wayne State: both of whom placed both men’s and women’s programs in the top 11 at last year’s NCAA Division II Championships. The Wayne State women took 2nd.
The teams will train and compete at the newly renovated Gerstacker Regional Aquatics Center on campus that has a 50 meter pool with a bulkhead, seating for 720 spectators, new blocks, new lane ropes, and a full-color scoreboard. It is an important pool for the regional swimming community, and will now have a full-time collegiate tenant to boot.
For those unfamiliar with the state of Michigan, Saginaw’s location is thusly: hold up your left hand, palm forward. Saginaw sits right where your thumb hits your index finger.
It really is a nice facility, and I’m glad to see they’re finally creating a university team to use it. Going to be interesting to see where they end up recruiting since there are already so many college programs in the state that have a lot to offer student athletes,
Great news here!!!