Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California has announced the addition of a women’s swimming team that will begin competition in the 2019-2020 academic year. The program is being supported by a $500,000 gift to the school by an unnamed donor for the purposes of launching the program.
The school is also adding men’s and women’s golf teams.
Westmont College finished in 6th place in the 2018 NAIA Learfield Directors Cup final standings, its best-ever finish. The Directors Cup awards points based on the finish of the schools’ different athletics teams.
“I get a lot of calls from parents of swimmers looking for more options to compete at a top Christian liberal arts college,” says Dave Odell, Westmont athletic director.
The school has a 6-lane, 25-yard outdoor pool on campus.
Westmont College competes in the NAIA, and specifically in the Golden State Athletics Conference. The school has won 8 national championships and 60 GSAC conference titles in its history.
Each NAIA school is allowed to give up to 8 scholarships for women’s swimming. There are currently 36 NAIA schools that sponsor women’s swimming. With about 1,300 students, Westmont sits in the middle-of-the-pack in terms of enrollment for NAIA women’s swimming programs.
The golf program has raised $75,000. The addition of these 3 new programs will bring the school up to 15 active varsity programs.
When will Westmont add a men’s swim team?
Very cool!
Thank you Kanye