ST. GEORGE, Utah – Dixie State University announced the addition of women’s swimming to its athletic department. The swim team will become Dixie State’s 14th NCAA Division II athletic program and will begin competition for the 2016-17 season.
“We are thrilled to add women’s swimming to our athletic program,” athletic director Jason Boothe said. “It gives us an opportunity to bring in a whole new dynamic to our athletic offerings and to allow for the fantastic swimmers in our region to compete at the collegiate level.
The process for naming a head coach of the program is already underway and will be announced at a later date.
Dixie State will partner with the Washington City Community Center facility for practice and hosting meets as well as the on campus fitness center.
“The Washington City Community Center is proud to be the host venue of the Dixie State University Red Storm women’s swimming team,” director Wendi Bulkley said. “We welcome the opportunity to partner with the University to provide collegiate swimming opportunities to many athletes throughout the state of Utah and beyond. We hope to provide a top-notch training and competition venue that attracts programs from across the country to southern Utah.”
The new program has been accepted into the Pacific Collegiate Swim and Dive Conference. Twelve of Dixie State’s remaining 13 programs participate in the Pacific West Conference while football is currently playing in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference but will move to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference for the 2016 season.
The PCSC consists of 11 NCAA Division I and II programs, as well as NAIA schools. Member institutions include Azusa Pacific, Biola, Cal State East Bay, Concordia Irvine, Fresno Pacific, Pepperdine, Simon Fraser, Soka University, Alaska Fairbanks, UC San Diego and Texas at Permian Basin. DSU will be the 12th member.
Swimming news courtesy Dixie State Athletics.