Oregon State announced these days that the college could be cutting its swim crew. The press launch says that the crew might be “discontinued through OSU on the stop of the 2018-2019 season.” The school simplest had a women’s team, and that they completed ninth out of 9 groups at the 2019 Pac-12 Championships closing week. The Beavers did win what grew to become out to be their closing home meet closing month.
The press release, quoting an assertion via Athletic Director Scott Barnes, cites a list of motives, inclusive of the value of building an on-campus pool, for slicing the crew. According to Barnes, OSU’s present centers “do no longer meet NCAA standards.” The team hosts home meets at an off-campus city facility, and in line with Barnes, it’d fee $18-22 million to construct a brand new facility.
As typical in these situations, the faculty has promised to honor present scholarships or help student-athletes transfer immediately should they desire to do so. The roster for this beyond year indexed 21 pupil-athletes, which include ten inexperienced persons. Both heads instruct Jennifer Buffin, and assistant instruct Michael Wong was with this system on account that 2016.
While this system has had its successes, such as a handful of NCAA All-Americans, the Beavers have in no way finished better than seventh within the Pac-12 Conference, wherein the team started competing in the course of the 1986-1987 school 12 months, while the convention became nevertheless known as the Pac-10. A list of Pac-10 swimming championship outcomes indicates that Oregon State had a guys’ team until the late 1970s.
While this means that there’ll now not be any Division I swimming programs in Oregon, it is nevertheless provided at 4 Division III faculties, including George Fox University, Lewis and Clark College, Linfield College, Pacific University, and Willamette University.
Here’s the full text of the e-mail from Barnes:
I am writing to announce that OSU will discontinue intercollegiate women’s swimming on the cease of the 2018-19 season. This choice is based upon the college’s dedication to offering all pupil-athletes a great, equitable, and competitive NCAA experience in step with the Athletics Department’s strategic plan. And to offer first-class and equal facilities for all teams while balancing monetary requirements for athletics facilities.
This selection is not made easily. It accompanied a complete overview of all sports activities and engaged Athletics Department management and the college’s Athletics Financial Sustainability Plan Work Group. This evaluates concluded that Oregon State could not meet its commitments even as maintaining swimming as an NCAA game. My selection also was made with a thorough session with OSU President Ed Ray, who helps this action.
Facility requirements contributed to this decision as OSU campus pool facilities do not meet NCAA standards. As a result, the OSU girls’ swim crew holds home matches at the town-owned Osborn Aquatics Center, which is not similar to the aggressive swimming facilities at other Pac-12 Conference universities.
Our assessment decided that it’s far price-prohibitive to renovate existing campus swimming centers. A new collegiate swimming and diving facility could fee $18 to $22 million to build, no longer inclusive of the annual maintenance fee. Investing in aggressive swimming software facilities would negatively impact our potential to serve facility necessities for all sports activities and all OSU student-athletes.
As a former collegiate pupil-athlete myself, I am very mindful of our 21 scholar-athletes and two coaches tormented by this selection. I thank Head Coach Jennifer Buffin and Assistant Coach Michael Wong, in addition to our swimmers, for their many contributions to the OSU swimming software and Beaver Nation. We will thoroughly guide swim group individuals at some point of this transition, including assisting any scholar swimmers who may also seek to transfer to some other university to compete. Meanwhile, those pupil-athletes will retain their athletic scholarships while they maintain to make successful progress to commencement.
In the future, OSU will subject a complete of 17 intercollegiate sports activities and could sponsor about 550 possibilities for scholar-athletes to compete in intercollegiate athletics. Women’s sports activities include ten applications: gymnastics, volleyball, golfing, rowing, basketball, indoor track and area, outdoor music and area, softball, football, and cross u. S .. Men’s sports activities consist of soccer, basketball, baseball, football, golf, wrestling, and rowing.
Meanwhile, the university will continue to help completely scholar-athlete achievement in the lecture room, community, and athletic opposition. We will obtain the dreams of the Athletics Department strategic plan by way of keeping economic sustainability, triumphing championships, and achieving submit-season achievement and national popularity. And we can preserve the proud subculture of OSU Athletics with the aid of competing and succeeding at the best ranges of intercollegiate sports activities.
