PHOENIX, Arizona, March 12, The March issue of Swimming World Magazine is now available for download to Total Access Subscribers!
On page 6 of Swimming World Magazine, A Voice For The Sport . The Future Is In Our Hands by CSCAA Executive Director Joel Shinofield.
As I travel around the country—or even across town—I invariably enter into conversations about the greatness of our sport.
Many of those conversations are with athletic directors and college administrators. They say glowing things about how swimmers and divers represent the very best of college athletics—great grades, good leaders, high graduation rates and incredibly hard workers who get the most out of their student-athlete experience.
It wasn’t any different when I attended the NCAA annual convention in San Diego in mid-January, where I continued to hear praise about our sport.
The NCAA convention brings together all three divisions to discuss matters of importance for the entire association, but also to discuss the operations of each of the three divisions separately.
In DII and DIII, each institution gets a vote for proposed legislative changes: one institution, one vote. In DI, the board of directors votes on proposed legislation. The board consists of 18 members comprised of 11 Football Bowl Subdivision members and seven members who come from either Football Championship Subdivision or DI non-football conferences.
Because of this structure, you often find a greater presence by DII and DIII members than DI, but this year, the turnout of DI constituents was close to 1,000-strong as the primary focus in San Diego was the redesign of the DI Governance Structure.
At the crux of this discussion is the desire by the higher resourced Big-5 conferences to have autonomy over certain legislation and not to be held back by the other 27 lower resourced DI conferences. That autonomy may allow conferences to provide full-cost of attendance for full scholarship athletes in the head-count sports and possibly others. Some estimate that this could lead to an increase in scholarships for those athletes of $6-10,000 annually with a cost increase to institutions implementing such a change of $1.2-1.8 million (minimally 98 male head-count athletes in football and basketball plus an equivalent number of female full-scholarship athletes).
This is just one example, and there are several others.
During the course of the discussion, attendees were allowed to ask questions of the steering committee. I asked the committee if “it felt that providing autonomy to the Big-5 conferences would preserve broad-based athletic opportunities across the division?” The moderator answered with a broad smile and a cheerful, “That’s a great question”…and then moved on without time for an answer.
At the conclusion of the session, I spoke with several athletic directors who all said plainly that the answer to my question was a simple, “No.”
So while we have great student-athletes who excel in the classroom and the pool and outpace many other athletes in graduation rates, NCAA postgraduate scholarships, Fulbrights and other incredible accomplishments, that is not going to be enough when financial push comes to shove.
If we want to preserve our future, it will be up to the swimming community:
• Alumni supporting their teams financially and being involved on university boards;
• Young swimmers and divers writing to their state schools, thanking them for sponsoring teams at their institutions; and
• All of us as swimming fans showing up in March in Oklahoma City, Indianapolis, Geneva (Ohio), Minneapolis and Austin for our NAIA and NCAA Championships…and filling those venues to capacity.
We are responsible for our own future, and we cannot underestimate the power we each possess.
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Curious about what you’ll find inside the March issue of Swimming World Magazine? Watch this month’s Inside Swimming World video to find out!
March Swimming World Magazine Table of Contents:
On The March Cover by Shoshanna Rutemiller
Going the Extra Mile: The senior captain’s commitment to success and his leadership skills will be on display at the men’s NCAA Division I Championships later this month when Jaeger—last year’s 500 and 1650 champ—leads the Wolverines in their quest for back-to-back team titles.
[Photo by Peter H. Bick]
10 Lessons with the Legends: Don Gambril by Michael J. Stott
12 Perfecting the Relay Start by Jeff Commings
Scottsdale Aquatics spends a lot of time working on relay exchanges, even planning well in advance the order of swimmers on their top-end relays. Their success at the junior national and sectional level illustrates the need for more work on relay starts than a week or so before a meet.
14 Dryland for Kids: Waiting on Weights (Part II) by Michael J. Stott
The second of a three-part series on dryland training for developing swimmers. This month, Keenan Robinson, director of athlete services at North Baltimore Aquatic Club and former chief athletic trainer for Michigan men’s 2013 NCAA swimming and diving national champions, continues the dialogue.
15 Goldminds: Ten Tips to Turn Your Terrible Turns into Terrifically Tremendous Turns by Wayne Goldsmith
18 Connor Jaeger: Going the Extra Mile by Shoshanna Rutemiller
22 NCAA Championship Previews by Jeff Commings
The University of Michigan appears ready to make it two in a row and extend its record number of men’s national swimming and diving team titles to 13 at this year’s NCAA Division I Championships.
28You Can Count on Cal! by Jeff Commings
With Olympic superstar Missy Franklin leading the way in her collegiate debut, Cal’s women’s swimming team looks like a lock to win its fourth NCAA Division I team trophy in the last six years.
33 Maintaining the Status Quo by Jason Marsteller
Last year’s team champions from the NCAA Division II and III, NAIA and NICAA swimming and diving championships remain the teams to beat in 2014.
43 Dryside Training: Connect at the Core by J.R. Rosania
44 Ask Dr. Shannon: Chest Flexibility and Midback Mobility by Shannon McBride
47 Q&A with Coach Peter Linn by Michael J. Stott
49How They Train Jacob Hanson by Michael J. Stott
50 Swimming Technique Misconceptions by Rod Havriluk
DEPARTMENTS
08 A Voice for the Sport
37 2014 Swim Camp Directory
53 Up & Comers
54 Gutter Talk
56 For the Record
59 NAG Top 10 Short Course Rankings
76 NAG Top 10 Long Course Rankings
93 CSCAA Swimming Rankings
94 Parting Shot
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