Exactly thirteen months after the death of John Pittington, the Louisiana-Monroe swim team met the same fate. ULM athletic director Bobby Staub has announced that the university will be dropping swimming and addding women's golf.

Last month coach Sean Weddell resigned. Weddell took over for the program after Pittington died of cancer. Pittington had served ULM for 21 years.

With the drop, the Sun Belt will have just three men's and six women's teams remaining. The addition of golf will give the Sun Belt a dozen women's golf teams. This, along with 'community support' were reasons cited by athletic director Bobby Staub.

The move also follows a well-trod path of departments axing programs just a year or less after departure of long-term head coaches. Such programs have included the men's programs at Kansas, Nebraska, Northern Iowa, and an attempted elimination of Minnesota State in Mankato. The accouncement comes a week after a fellow Sun-Belt coach, Western Kentucky's Bill Powell, stepped back to become the assistant for the Hilltoppers. Powell has been with the program for over thirty-five years.