Dartmouth Men's Swimming and Diving, which began in 1920, is one of the oldest college swim programs in the United States. The team competes for Dartmouth College in the Ivy League. The team begins training in mid September all the way until the end of March, ending the season with the Ivy League Championships also known as "Ivies". The team practices 9 times a week and has weekly competitions throughout the season. The team trains and also hosts competitions at the Dartmouth College Aquatic Facilities, swimming in the Karl Michael Pool and the Spaulding Pool. They also host an annual invite at the Upper Valley Aquatic Center in nearby White River Junction VT.
| Dartmouth Big Green swimming and diving | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Head coach | Milana Socha, Chris Hamilton |
| Conference | Ivy League |
| Location | Hanover, NH |
| Home pool | Karl Michael Pool |
| Nickname | Big Green |
| Colors | Dartmouth green and white[1] |
Sometime in 2002 as a result of economic/financial troubles, Dartmouth College made several budget cuts which involved disbanding the men and women's swim team. In response, the team as well as many others rallied to stop the team from getting cut, one student even putting the team up on eBay[2] in an effort to gain attention and money to save the team. After successfully lobbying and fundraising for the team by students, alumni, and fans, both teams were reinstated under the John C. Glover Fund for the Support of Swimming and Diving. The fund was named after one of the greatest Dartmouth swimmers of all time, John C. Glover, who was an all American Swimmer in the class of 1955 that died while training for the Olympics at Yale University in 1956.
The team was again cut as a varsity sport on July 9, 2020, along with the Men's and Women's Golf teams and Men's Lightweight Crew under the pretense of budgetary concerns.[3] Funding was also cut for the Hanover Country Club indefinitely, although the grounds will be maintained for the use of the varsity Cross-Country team.[4] Despite telling student-athletes and the fifteen coaches and staff members who were losing their jobs that this move was a cost-cutting measure, Dartmouth also made clear in a list of FAQs[5] that no amount of pledges or donations from alumni would convince the administration to consider re-establishing the teams at the varsity level. Both teams were again reinstated on January 29 due to a threatened title IX law suit.
References
edit- ^ "Color Palette" (PDF). Dartmouth Athletics Visual Identity Guidelines. March 13, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
- ^ Darren Rovell ,: "Auction Started to Keep Aquatic Team Afloat", "ESPN Sports Business".
- ^ Braden Kieth ,: "DARTMOUTH CUTTING MEN’S & WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING TEAMS", "SwimSwam"
- ^ Justin Kramer , Addison Dick and Lili Stern ,: "Dartmouth cuts five sports teams and closes Hanover Country Club", "The Dartmouth"
- ^ "Athletics Announcement FAQ", "Dartmouth Sports"
- Dartmouth, : "Rosters", "Men's Swimming and Diving"
- Sara Mayeux, : "Budget cuts force Dartmouth to axe swimming, diving programs", "The Daily Princetonian"
- Zachary Silver, : "Dartmouth Reinstates Swimming", "The Daily Pennsylvanian"
- Tamar Lewin, : "Online Bid is Made, Briefly, to Save Dartmouth's Swim Team From Budget Cuts", "The New York Times"
- Darren Rovell, : "Auction Started to Keep Aquatic Team Afloat", "ESPN Sports Business"
- Dartmouth Big Green Official Website, :"Men's Swimming and Diving", "Dartmouth Big Green"