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Congrats on moving up a spot from last year. We still have some work ahead of us to get back into the Top 10 where we used to be all the time. I'm glad to see some of the relays qualify. That is a major improvement over last year.

Thanks, Eastang:

I share you congratulations as well. A disqualified 400 relay on the last day hurt on the final points and standing.

On the other hand, the Men's Team should not be happy with only a Top 25 standing in a non-revenue sports, e.g. swimming. We have slipped from our traditional Top Ten place for Men. Even the Women had a down year in 2003-4.

Here are the Team Standings:

The Mustangs are Back on the Map.
Way to go gentlemen.


2004 Division I Men's Swimming and Diving: Team Standings
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS

1) AUBURN 634 19) MIAMI (FLORIDA) 56
2) STANFORD 377.5 20) SOUTH CAROLINA 52
3) TEXAS 374 21) LOUISIANA STATE 37
4) ARIZONA 322 22) WYOMING 33
5) MICHIGAN 271 23) NORTH CAROLINA 23
6) FLORIDA 266 24) S.M.U. 22
7) CAL. BERKELEY 255.5 25) WASHINGTON 20
TENNESSEE 140 25) HAWAII 20
9) MINNESOTA 130 27) PURDUE 16
10) GEORGIA 112.5 28) IOWA 14
11) NORTHWESTERN 112 28) NAVY 14
12) TEXAS A&M 111 30) OHIO STATE 13

13) VIRGINIA 108.5 30) HARVARD 13
14) SOUTHERN CAL. 106 32) PITTSBURGH 6
15) KENTUCKY 83 33) VIRGINIA TECH 5
16) WISCONSIN 79.5 34) ALABAMA 3
17) INDIANA 75.5 35) CLEMSON 2
18) ARIZONA STATE 62 35) GEORGIA TECH

I agree with you Water, we cannot be satisfied with top 25 performances, we should be focusing on Top 10. What do we need to do to get the horsepower to move up the rankings? It used to be we were great at finding the diamond in the rough, but a lot of those kids are now staying home (note Illinois and Wyoming's finish). Is it recruitment? Is it the physical plant? The Natatorium is old, but when you have a big opponent it is loud and can rock.

Perkins Natatorium has traditional appeal. Intimate. But a six lane, 25yd pool (no diving well) is a throw back. The outdoor, A.R. "Red" Barr long course pool helps in the fall but is not used for competition. Our situation is more challenging now because of the demands of Men's and Women's Teams

Competitive teams and schools have been spending big time on facilities. U. of Louisville is committing to new swimming and diving facilities, as a example, in order to be big time across the board in Sports.

The net is SMU needs an indoor, long course pool with a separate diving well. The pool needs to be 50 meters long (Olympic lenght) by 25 yards wide (college length). This will serve both Men's and Women's teams. My preference was to combine this need with the new Dedman Recreation Center, but their new pool (25yds.) will be dedicated for recreational needs only. The result: We now need two new pools to be built, which is a missed opportunity to do one right, but do it right.

A new competitive pool will aid in recruiting, training and competiton. Unfortunately, the decision to only build a recreation pool means we will be deferring varsity facilities for some time to come. We can't afford to lose another Olympic sport (sorry for Track team) in reality or continue to deemphasize it with non-competitive facilities.

With better facilities, we will be Top Ten again for both teams. SMU, Dallas and our swimming & diving traditions are a great draw. Today with Perkins, we can't go after the top swimmers. There was a time when we never lost to Texas.

I remember the 21 straight SWC swimming championship streak, and Coach Mac dividing the team into thirds and send one group to Houston, one group to Rice and one group to A&M or TCU. With all the Olympic name swimmers (and ex-swimmers, we used to have about 40 on the men's squad including walk-ons), we have, don't you think they could pull off a fund raiser for capital campaign for a new pool facility in tribute to Heidenrich or Coach Mac. Cindi Potter, Steve Lundquist, Lars Froelander, Martina Morascova, Christine Loocke, Ricardo Prado, and so on. If they raised the money for such a facility, don't you think the school would build it? $20 Million ought to do it don't you think?

It won't take $20m, but $10+ would. A fund already is seeded to help kick-start what you said.

On another note, the squads were big. In the sixties, "Red" Barr didn't believe in cutting anyone. One year we had over seventy, which hurt pool time, but the Swimming & Diving alums are a big group to your point.