Syracuse University will drop its men's and women's swimming programs after the 2007-08 academic year, two sources told The Post-Standard on Wednesday. The decision to end the university's participation in swimming will coincide with the start of a women's ice hockey team, the sources said.

The elimination of the swimming programs marks the first time in 10 years that Syracuse University will cease participation in a sport. In 1997, Syracuse dropped wrestling and men's gymnastics as scholarship sports. While wrestling and men's gymnastics were victims of the university's need to meet Title IX guidelines for gender equity in the number of athletic scholarships, the demise of the swimming programs seems to be for different reasons.

One source said athletic director Daryl Gross wants to place more emphasis on sports that can compete for NCAA championships. "Daryl wants to be extraordinary," the source said. The second source mentioned the financial aspects of the decision. Currently, Syracuse swimmers train and compete in an antiquated pool inside Archbold Gym. The pool has six lanes and is just 25 meters long. An Olympic pool normally has at least eight lanes and is 50 meters long. The source said a new natatorium would cost $35 million to $50 million to build. Meanwhile, the first source indicated that Gross has been influenced by research numbers indicating the large numbers of elite-level women's ice hockey players from the area. The women's ice hockey team will begin competing as a varsity sport in the fall of 2008. The team will play in the ice rink in the university's Skytop area. A number of neighboring colleges play women's hockey at the Division I level, including Colgate, Cornell and St. Lawrence. All three are members of the ECAC Women's Hockey League. St. Lawrence has enjoyed great success, reaching the Frozen Four four straight seasons. "It's premature to talk about it right now," Gross said Tuesday. "There are many things in the athletic department's long-term viability that have been researched and discussed at length, and we'll discuss those things at the appropriate time." An official announcement will be made in the next few weeks. The university will then begin a search for a women's ice hockey coach.

Dropping men's swimming will mean the reduction of roughly 11 athletic scholarships. The women's swim team, which consists of 13 members, receives 14 scholarships. According to one of the sources, the new women's ice hockey team could receive in the neighborhood of 18 scholarships for 30 or more athletes.

SU fielded its first men's swimming team in 1915-16. Women's swimming became a varsity sport in 1976-77. Lou Walker, Syracuse's swim coach for the past 31 years and a former SU swimmer himself, could not be reached for comment. Syracuse's men's and women's swim teams have been successful under Walker, but only rarely on the national level. In the past 30 years, Syracuse has had two female swimmers qualify for the NCAA championship meet. The men's program has developed several All-Americans, including four-time All-American Miroslav Vucetic (1998) and his brother, Josko (2001). Luk Boral won the Big East Conference championship in the 200 breaststroke in each of the last two seasons. But the men's team last won the Big East Conference in 1996 and has finished as high as fifth in the conference just once since 2000.

The swimmers currently on scholarship will be able to remain at SU, which will honor their scholarships even after the 2007-08 season. It is expected that any swimmer who wishes to transfer will be granted his or her immediate release so that they will not have to sit out a year under normal transfer rules.

Mike Waters can be reached at 470-3086 or mwaters@syracuse.com