Having to transfer schools because the swim team got cut is emotional and difficult; Ben Gingher is doing it for the second time in his NCAA career.
Gingher started his collegiate career at Eastern Michigan, initially making a verbal commitment in November 2016. After one full season at EMU, the program got cut, so he transferred to East Carolina, where he swam for two seasons until this past May when the school announced they were cutting the men’s and women’s teams.
Now, Gingher is heading to Youngstown State in Ohio with one final year of eligibility left.
I never thought a team of mine would get cut once, let alone twice. After EMU was cut, I was very lucky to find ECU and I am very thankful for everything both teams gave me. I am also very thankful to have the opportunity to finish up at YSU!
TOP TIMES (SCY)
- 100 breast – 54.85
- 200 breast – 1:59.39
- 200 IM – 1:50.89
Gingher has made huge strides in college. When he committed to EMU halfway through his senior year of high school, he was 58.6 in the 100 breast and 2:11.7 in the 200 breast. After his freshman year there, and at the time of his transfer to ECU, he had gotten down to 55.6 in the 100 and 1:59.3 in the 200. In his second year at ECU, he dropped his 100 breast down to his current best of 54.85, while he also progressed down to 1:50.89 in the 200 IM; he was 2:01.71 in the 200 IM before college.
Gingher was a valuable contributor at the conference level for both EMU and ECU. At EMU, at the 2018 MAC Champs, he scored at fifth in the 200 breast and ninth in the 100 breast. He touched eighth in both breaststroke events at the 2019 AAC Champs with ECU, then made B-finals in both breaststroke events and the 200 IM at the 2020 AAC Champs this past February.
At Youngstown State, a program that in 2019-20 had its first season of Division I competition since the 1980s, Gingher will be nothing short of a star. They had no swimmer under 58/2:11 in breaststroke and 1:56 in IM last season; in fact, Gingher will come in three seconds better than their 100 breast program record, six seconds ahead of their 200 IM program record and 12 seconds quicker than the school 200 breast mark.
Last year at the Horizon League Champs, Gingher would’ve been third in the 200 breast and fourth in the 100 breast, while he would’ve also made the 200 IM B-final.
That’s some terrible luck. Now he might lose this season to the virus. I’ll be rooting for him!
He probably didn’t consider any schools that started with “East.”
Joking aside, I hope he has a happy and successful year, he deserves it!
Reminded me of Anderson Sloan – swam for Clemson as a Freshman, Maryland as a Sophomore, and retired from swimming rather than transfer again. I looked him up on Linked In – graduated from UMd and looks to be thriving in DC.
Look for Youngstown to cut their program after next year.
Why would they cut there program???
What’s swimming?
I’d love to hear about his academic experiences. As one of the commenters noted that he should look at a gap year. Just wondering about the classes he took and how many will actually transfer, is he on track with his degree, etc. It’s really tough to find a swim program to call home, let alone one that works with your academic major.
If he really wants to compete another year, I’d look at a gap year.
Adding to my list to root for!