SILOAM SPRINGS, Arkansas, January 15. SWIMMING at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) took another hit as John Brown University announced today that it would cut the women's swimming program at the end of the year.
"This was a hard decision," said athletics director Robyn Gordon. "Over the last three years, we've been evaluating our program and watching what is happening to swimming at the national level. With only twenty-eight women's teams in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and none in the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC), we really feel this is the right decision."
As seen in other similar situations, JBU plans to honors all scholarships to those swimmers still at the university through their senior years, and will grant complete releases to any athlete to transfer to another institution.
According to a release sent out from the university:
The program, which began in 1984, will hold a final home meet on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 3 p.m. Head coach Shawn Toenyes hopes to have widespread support as the ladies plunge into the waters for their final lap at JBU.
"Not only will this be our only home meet this year, but it will be the end of an era," said Toenyes. "I am very proud to be a representative of JBU swimming and extremely proud of my swimmers who are ambassadors of God and John Brown University. They are true champions in every aspect of the word."