…Central Michigan once had a varsity swim team, however that program was cut long ago. Now, Central Michigan has been mandated to add women’s sports back in order to get back into compliance with Title IX. Earlier this year, the CMU administration announced that there would be women’s sports added in the coming years, though they didn’t commit which ones would be added. The competition for those spots won’t be easy among interested athletes – Central Michigan only has 8 women’s sports at current, and other ‘obvious’ sports like tennis and golf aren’t among them. The above article says that a new facility would cost upwards of $20 million, which would seem like a lot as compared to the school’s entire $22 million budget.
However, that seems to be grossly overestimated, given that the cost of Virginia Tech’s brand new, 50-meter pool cost under $15 million in an area where construction costs are something like 20% higher. Central Michigan’s current pool is too shallow to meet NCAA regulations. To support the potential new program, spurred on by the efforts of the club team, like their page on facebook...
…Former assistant Dave Collins has been promoted as the new head coach of Missouri State. He has been the associate head coach for the past four seasons, and was named the interim head coach after Jack Sterck quietly retired mid-season this year. Among the Bears’ 2012 accomplishments under Collins’ direction were a Missouri Valley Conference Championship for the women…
…13-year old Paige Schendelaar-Kemp has signed a sponsorship with SKINS compression sportswear, according to a press release. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but this shows the difference in countries like New Zealand, where swimming is seeking the next big thing and where there’s no college scholarships to shoot for. As a 12-year old, she broke the National Age Group Record with a 1:03.5 in the 100 fly. That’s a good time for a swimmer that age, but still far from what could possibly be considered for sponsorship in the United States…
…Former European Junior Champion Mateusz Matczak is in a medically-induced coma, according to the English-language Polish news site thenews.pl. The exact cause of the head-injury for the 23-year old, but he underwent surgery to remove a hematoma or a bruise in his brain. He was hospitalized in the early-hours and was brought to the hospital heavily intoxicated. The IM specialist has only competed lightly since 2009, where he was spectacular in rubber suits, and barring some sort of shocking turnaround was at best a longshot for the Polish Olympic Team…
In the short term, they might be able to have ‘home’ meets at Saginaw Valley State about an hour away. SVSU has a decent 50M pool and they’ve just spent money to upgrade starting blocks for high school/club use, but they don’t have a college varsity team.
The pool appears to be being used quite effectively in this photo..I love rec swimming.