What People Are Saying

Dec 5, 2007, Natalie Coughlin - Olympian and World Record Holder
Participating in college swimming has changed my life for the better. If it wasn't for college swimming, my career would have ended 8 years ago. Since then, I've broken world records, won 5 Olympics medals and have been named National Team captain for the past three years.

Dec 5, 2007, Jason Lezak - Olympian
Collegiate swimming made a huge impact in my life and changes the way athletes approach their future after the sport. Swimmers are always the hardest workers and most dedicated athletes that employers are looking for. Not only are swimmers dedicated, but they have class and are great people overall.

Dec 5, 2007, Ryan Lochte - Olympian and World Record Holder
Swimming is not just another sport. It allows a swimmer to learn discipline, respect, courage and makes dreams come true. By cutting the program, you are limiting those athletes, which is not fair. A 90-year program of both academic and athletic excellence, and Syracuse administration want that gone. Let's keep the tradition alive, and I will come to Syracuse and do a swim clinic for all swimmers.

Dec 5, 2007, Michael Phelps - Olympian and World Record Holder
Swimming teaches life lessons that you can use for every situation in life. It's part of a well-rounded education.

Dec 5, 2007, Lauren Boyle - Cal Women's Swim Team
I am an international student at California-Berkeley and chose to come to a U.S. university to pursue swimming, which is a very well recognized international sport. By combining swimming with academics, students can excel in two influential aspects of life. Cutting a swim team denies athletes the chance to be successful in sports and academics, which distinguishes them and offers more opportunities.

Dec 5, 2007, Mary DeScenza - National Team Member
Swimming promotes good work ethic, time management and gives hard-working athletes opportunities to show off in the pool and in the classroom. Swimmers are generally excellent students and add much to university dynamics.

Dec 5, 2007, Mark Gangloff - Olympian
I believe that the Syracuse administration needs to reconsider its decision to cut men's and women's swimming because swimming teaches student-athletes dedication, hard work, time management and confidence. These characteristics are needed to be successful students, and to become successful professionals some day.

If the Syracuse administration has any reservations about the hard work and dedication of these student-athletes, I feel they need to look at how hard they are working to keep their team from being cut. In my opinion, it would be a mistake to cut the Syracuse men's and women's swim team.

Dec 5, 2007, Jessica Hardy - World Record Holder
I personally have trained with some of the athletes on the Syracuse Swimming team, and honestly believe that it would be an enormous mistake to cut the program. I know the potential that your athletes have and believes you are losing and throwing away more than imaginable.

Dec 5, 2007, Michael Lohberg - Head Coach, Coral Springs
Swimmers are usually the smartest, most dedicated and most disciplined student-athletes. What message does it send? Money is everything! Principals and character are nothing! That's the message that shutting down the swimming program sends. Not a good message for a university with tradition.

Dec 5, 2007, David Marsh - Head Coach, Macklenberg; Auburn
Swimming is a lifelong sport. Swimmers excel in life. Swimmers also give back. Keep swimming!

Dec 5, 2007, Jim Richardson - Head Coach
Collegiate swimmers represent all that collegiate athletes should stand for: strong work ethic, academic excellence and superior graduation rates. It is ironic that a sport like this could be eliminated in light of the problems that surround so many other collegiate sports. I encourage you to reevaluate the poor decision to eliminate the Olympic sport of swimming at such a distinguished university as Syracuse.

Dec 5, 2007, Kaitlin Sandeno - Olympian
Swimming, like many other sports, builds and reveals an athlete's true character. It is a sport that requires sacrifice, hard work, and above all passion. Eliminating the men's and women's swim programs would not only take away from the team camaraderie, but also take away their passion from a sport they truly love.

Dec 5, 2007, Bill Schalz - Head Coach, Academy Bullets Swim Club
Swimming offers great opportunities. Swimmers are positive role models that represent Syracuse very well. Syracuse should NOT be limiting opportunities for its students!

Sep 6, 2007, Dan Flannery, Iowa
Your decision to cut Syracuse swimming is concern to all swimming coaches, swimmers, parents and fans throughout the country. Swimming creates some of the best-student athletes in collegiate athletics. If Syracuse is an institution of excellence in education then why would you drop two sports that represent everything the NCAA and quality institutions stand for? Hockey? What are you thinking???? I had family who lived in Camilus for a few years, loved the area and the Syracuse University. I have a boy who will be attending another university in a couple of years. I can't send him to a school that doesn't support a sport like swimming. I figure you will lose $145,000 of MY hard earned money to send him there. Please re-think this decision and reinstate both programs. Take proceeds from one home football game to fund a womens hocky team.

Sep 4, 2007, Kalei Mahi-Foldy, Georgia
I am shocked, saddened, appalled and embarassed about the complete disregard that Dr. Gross and the Chancellor have had for the men's and women's swim program. As a former swimmer for Syracuse University it saddens me that the cord was cut on the program before any problems were addressed. For years we were told we were going to get a new swim facility down in South Campus down the road from where the ice hockey rink was built. Years came and went and still the SU athletic department did nothing to help further the opportunities for their swimmers. Instead money was spent on a football team that hasn't had a winning season in about 5 years. A new gym for them was in the works when I left, a new coach, a dedicated training staff, yet they NEVER produced any winning teams. We had two substandard pools to swim in and had to share the training staff with Lax, field hockey, basketball, soccer, volleyball, etc. For what we had to work with, we have had some amazing swimmers come out of that school. Dr. Gross, I came from a Trojan family and before the football team found Pete Carrol they dealt with Coach Robinson. After so many years of having unsuccessful seasons the AD finally got rid of him and replaced him with a coach who was ahead with the training styles, connected with his players and produced lasting results. Instead of getting rid of the men's and women's swim team and forcing swimmers to transfer or quit, why not try new coaches and a new facility? The pool is old, outdated, dark, and 6 lanes. Not conducive to building a solid team. Make the investment on a team that has had a rich swimming history instead of trying your luck at a new sport. Swimmers have always been strong student athletes who have been well rounded and took pride in their sport. Please reconsider the decision to get rid of the program all together.

July 15, 2007, Janet Evans, 4 Time Olympic Champion, Swimming
Swimming is a sport that teaches life lessons, hard work, discipline, goal setting, and how to deal with both success and failure. Your University should be ASHAMED of your decision to take away a sport that gives its young athletes so much in their lives.

July 15, 2007, Staciana Winfield (Stitts), Assistant Coach USC and Sydney Olympics Silver Medalist, Swimming
The sport of swimming in college develops amazing women and men. They develop time management skills, discipline, intense work ethic in and out of the pool and classroom, as well as all aspects of their lives. Their determination and good character carries into their future jobs, families and contributions to society. Syracuse swimming and diving should be saved to encourage and establish a positive successful future for our world and to reward the student athletes for their achievements to date.

Jun 25, 2007, Jim Bolster, Head Coach, Columbia University, New York
Starting a Women's hockey program is great, but it should not come at the expense of other sports. There must be a more creative alternative to dropping sports. Eliminating programs is the easy way out....

Jun 24, 2007, Susan Hermansen, New York
Swimmers tend to be hard working student athletes who contribute to the life of the University. I teach at another University with a swimming program. Some of the best student athletes I have worked with have been on our swim team.

Jun 19, 2007, Bradford Grant, Arizona
As a former collegiate swimmer in the Big East and a current USA Swimming Head Coach, I must shout my affirmation to continue the swimming programs at Syracuse.

Jun 17, 2007, Kate Breslin, Washington D.C.
As a former Columbia University Varsity Swimming Captain (Class of 2000) Swimming is vital at the college level. Syracuse has an excellent program and to cut it would be a travesty.

Jun 17, 2007, Anonymous, New York
I swam competitively in college. My school had just built a brand new athletic complex that included a pool. The pool was not just used by the school team or students; it was used by the entire community. Local USS teams used it for meets and it was even used in a national commercial. Why would you take away the opportunity for such great opportunities to be had, not only by SU students, but for the entire Syracuse community?

Jun 14, 2007, Duane Green, New York
What a great loss to the swimming and diving world it would be without Syracuse. I have been to the Empire State Games twice at SU. I was there is 1978 during the first Empire Games. I was inspired by the campus and its great history. I was a diver at Michigan State University. I received a great education and work ethic from the program and the coach John Narcy. MSU gave mw the energy to relish 35 years of teaching and coaching. Please reconsider your decision. Some- one has to teach the teachers. Please keep the SU swimming and diving team alive!

Jun 14, 2007, Lindsay Kircher, California
As a former collegiate swimmer (UCSC 1994-1998), I strongly urge you to reconsider your decision to terminate the Syracuse Swimming and Diving Program. This program has a long and successful history of producing excellent student athletes. The relationships and reputation that Syracuse has built with other universities, local high schools, and club teams across the country will be lost with the termination of the Swimming and Diving program. In addition, the students who decided to attend Syracuse based on the understanding that they would have the opportunity to participate in the swim program will be left with the decision to transfer to another university or quit swimming. For many of these athletes, quitting is not an option. These student-athletes are positive role models for the rest of the Syracuse student body. Again, I strongly urge you to reconsider.

Jun 14, 2007, Deborah Burke, New Jersey
My husband (Steve Burke, Class of 1992) attended Syracuse on a swimming scholarship and was extremely dedicated to the Syracuse Swimming Program. It is disheartening to him and our family that the program was cut. We were hoping our twins would swim for Syracuse someday! Let's save the program!

Jun 10, 2007, Elizabeth T. Allen, Connecticut
As a former swimmer at Dartmouth college, I know how devastating this decision can be. Your team and sport helps define who you are and your college experience. Athletics is not just about being competitive; it's about becoming a better person, defining yourself, having an outlet, being on a team and so much more. Robbing student-athletes of the opportunity to pursue their dreams in the name of being "more competitive" undermines the philosophy behind sports. It's about TEAM. And, SU swimmers, I am on yours. Reverse the decision, administration.

Jun 6, 2007, Cristina Teuscher, New York
I've represented the US National swim team for eight years, including in two Olympic Games, winning a bronze and gold medal. It all began in your Syracuse pool in a swim meet held by your Syracuse team when I made my first junior national cut. So, do you think it's the right choice?

Jun 4, 2007, Gary W. Hall, M.D., Florida
I am a 3 time Olympian in swimming for the United States and am currently VP of The Race Club in Islamorada, Florida. We are in the business of promoting swimming and organizing swim camps and clinics world wide. At 55 years of age, I have come to appreciate that swimming is one of the few exercises one can enjoy for a lifetime without the serious threat of injury or disability. Obesity and the general lack of fitness in our society may be the single most important issue our country faces today. The health bill to take care of medical problems related to our obese society is bankrupting the country. By discontinuing the swimming program at Syracuse, you are sending the wrong message to your students and to our society. The message is that swimming, perhaps the greatest fitness exercise of all, is not important enough to promote and that it is less important than other sports. Those other sports may produce revenue for the University, but they are not lifelong sports like swimming and they will not contribute to restoring the culture of fitness to our country. I urge you to reconsider. There are always ways to subsidize a swimming program.

Jun 4, 2007, Gordon Hull, SU'83, California
An athletic program without swimming is like a liberal arts school without classes in literature. Without these fundamental sports -- swimming, wrestling, and gymnastics -- the athletic department ceases to be a conduit for learning about life, in all its diversity, and instead becomes a marketing arm of the university.

Jun 4, 2007, Claudia Murphy, Ohio
This is a lifestyle for these athletes. They chose Syracuse not only for their great academics but because of this swim team and the love they have for swimming! They are a community and swimming has been a huge part of their lives since they were young. If you take that away you are taking away a part of their life! This sport has made them who they are today. Swimmers are focused, driven, successful, positive, compassionate, and wonderful adults too be around!

Jun 3, 2007, Stephen Polucha, Washington
This is a huge mistake based on the history of the program, the number of NCAA and Olympic swimmers formerly in the program, and the level of participation the SU swim team has shown in university activities and community service

Jun 2, 2007, Bill Roberts, Head Coach Navy Mens Swimming
No matter what success an SU women's hockey team may bring, dropping the swimming and diving programs would be the wrong choice.