The College of Charleston’s Swimming and Diving Team has been fighting to stay alive since hearing from athletic director Joe Hull last November that the college was planning to cut the program at the end of the 2014-15 season. Hull also announced the Stern Center Pool, located on campus, would be closing. The pool was built in 1975 and updated in 2000, and had become too expensive to maintain.
For three months the swimming and diving team and their supporters have tried to work with the school’s administration to find financial and logistical solutions. There was talk of using a local facility. There were discussions with the CofC president Glenn F. McConnell.
In the end, nothing worked. The team received the definitive answer from the administration last week, and it wasn’t the one they were hoping to hear. As originally announced, the CofC will eliminate the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams at the conclusion of the current season.
That means the end of the road for these athletes will be the 2015 Colonial Athletic Association Swimming and Diving Championships, and that is where they are now focused. When reached for comment, Bora Yatagan, head coach of the swimming and diving teams, told SwimSwam:
“As the season comes to a close, we want to show our appreciation for our supporters to do our best at the CAA Championship.”
2015 Colonial Athletic Association Swimming and Diving Championships
Diving
- Dates: Saturday, February 21 – Sunday, February 22, 2015
- Location: Rawstrom Natatorium, University of Delaware (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending Champions: W – Towson (results), M – UCNW (results)
- Live Results: Available
- Live Video: Not Available
- Championship Central
Swiming
- Dates: Wednesday, February 25 – Saturday, February 28, 2015
- Location: Rawstrom Natatorium, University of Delaware (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending Champions: W – Towson (results), M – UCNW (results)
- Live Results: Available
- Live Video: Available (finals only)
- Championship Central