Jon Maccoll, the head coach of the Rutgers Women’s Swimming and Diving team, is taking an idea from many other sports and bringing it to the pool. Maccoll has brought in a number of male swimmers as “practice swimmers” to train with the Rutgers women’s team. While they are not technically a part of the NCAA team (Rutgers does not have a men’s swimming program), they will train with the team and receive team gear. The men will compete in USA Swimming competitions, but they will have the same expectations as the women’s team in terms of practice attendance and effort. Maccoll says this is commonplace in sports like women’s basketball and is tired of losing recruits to programs that have men and women on the team.
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I’ll be waiting for the follow up about how they think their meet is going against Arkansas and Miami (both female only teams).
Definitely don’t discount having them compete at a couple college club meets to get their natl cuts and compete at CCNats. As the parent of a swimmer who walked away from a D1 offer to attend her dream school…. I was amazed at the CCNatl meet. First: Liberty U’s men’s swimming is coached and trains like a varsity team and sets a goal of winning nats each year. They act very intense. Second: many of the podium winners are ex:D1 swimmers who have rolled off into grad school after their eligibility has ended. While the meet is not D1 fast…. It’s fast all the same and many of these kids are training 4-6 days a week. It’s a rewarding feeling… Read more »
Maybe the play is to strike down the equal scholarship requirement so we can let men have teams again. Football sucks.
I’m not sure that striking down the equal scholarship requirement will bring back men’s swimming so much as it might eliminate more women’s swimming. One of women’s swimming’s strengths to athletics departments historically has been the high number of roster spots to help offset football versus, say, basketball or volleyball, which have comparatively smaller rosters.
Wow I did not know that Rutgers doesn’t have a men’s team.
Mfs will do ANYTHING BUT reinstate the men’s team
So a club team
And the get free team gear?? I should have went to Rutgers damnit
yeah but then all the stuff says “Rutgers” on it
great idea!!!