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I saw that USC finished last at the Invitational Meet last week. Have they given up on Men's Swimming? That really surprised me. I noticed that our times seem to be off provisional and auto qualifying so far this year. Are we rebuilding our men's team this year, or are they just off to a slow start?

EastStang wrote:I saw that USC finished last at the Invitational Meet last week. Have they given up on Men's Swimming? That really surprised me. I noticed that our times seem to be off provisional and auto qualifying so far this year. Are we rebuilding our men's team this year, or are they just off to a slow start?

USC has a long history in swimming, but the SEC schools and Texas tend to dominate. Years ago, UCLA discontinued their Men's Swimming & Diving team.

As for our performance, we do tend to peak later in the season, which is good. But, the best we can expect is Top 20 with a natatorium which can't effectively train Men & Women teams, host big meets and appeal to recruits.

As for our performance, we do tend to peak later in the season, which is good. But, the best we can expect is Top 20 with a natatorium which can't effectively train Men & Women teams, host big meets and appeal to recruits.

Not to mention the fact that we graduated out some studs last season with Hetlund, Clark and Milu.

And isn't that all that really matters - peaking at the end of the season for conference and NCAA meets? It's nice to win dual meets during the season and get national rankings, but can someone more swimming-savvy tell me if I'm right?

I go to a meet every few years. I think I'm due for another.

PonyTales wrote:And isn't that all that really matters - peaking at the end of the season for conference and NCAA meets? It's nice to win dual meets during the season and get national rankings, but can someone more swimming-savvy tell me if I'm right?

I go to a meet every few years. I think I'm due for another.

It is all about the "conference" championships and the NCAAs. We have a fair number of foreign kids and the European Championships are also important for them for their national teams, World Championships and Olympic considerations. Swimming has really changed in the past 15 years with a de-emphasis on dual meets and much greater emphasis on invitationals where the over all quality of swimming is really advanced. Swimming has really suffered particularly with many men's programs being cut out as evidenced with the budget cuts that have shut down a number of historical powerhouse such as UCLA. Women's programs have been a bit more stable because of Title IX considerations. (USA Swimming, the US Olympic development international represention organzation, has serious concerns re the demise of college swimming due to budget axes.) Hence, conferences and/or contrived championships with teams who have no conference in which to swim are all too common. At any rate, any championship before the NCAA is extremely important as the athletes start to taper and need NCAA qualification times.