By Matt O'Donnell
Reprinted with Permission The Athens Post

On Jan. 25, Ohio Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt cut the school’s men’s swimming and diving program.

The move was made in order to ensure the school’s compliance with Title IX and to help the school’s mounting athletic debt, but it may have also made it harder for Ohio’s women’s program to succeed.

Of the teams that finished in the top 25 at this year’s NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, 23 had both men’s and women’s programs, with only UCLA and Houston having just a women’s program.

In the Mid-American Conference, those schools with both programs dominated. Over the last 25 years, no team with only one program has won a MAC title. This season, Eastern Michigan, Miami and Ohio finished in the top 3 at the conference meet and in the regular season, all of which had both programs.

Miami women’s swimming coach Dave Jennings, who has won 14 MAC titles in the last 25 seasons, said that the success of a women’s program isn’t dependent on having a men’s team, but it does make it more challenging to win conference championships.

“If the conditions are right, the support is right and the coaching is right, I think it can happen (winning a MAC Championship.) It is all about approach,” Jennings said. “I just think it’s a little bit more challenging.”

One advantage to having men’s and women’s teams is that the two train and sometimes practice together. Ohio swimmer Emily Wylam said that the men’s team is more than just a training partner to her.

“There is only one other backstroker on the team and we generally don’t train together so I am always training with the male backstrokers. That for me is the main part, having that support system,” Wylam said. “They make me better because they push me to do things that I didn’t think I could do.”

Bowling Green coach Keri Buff has coached in a combined program, but now coaches just a women’s program. She said that there are disadvantages to having two teams train together and has noticed that she is able to give her team more attention.

“There are pros to having one program. I think we are able to give more of a one-on-one atmosphere,” Buff said. “They have a tendency to be more confident and outspoken because they aren’t worried about what the guys are thinking.”

When schools cut their men’s program, the women can also feel the burden in recruiting. Recruits sometimes look at schools specifically because they have both a men’s and women’s program. Jennings said that having a men’s team is a great tool when recruiting swimmers to come to Miami.

“From that point of view, I think it’s very important to have a men’s team to complement the women’s team. I think it’s a lot easier to recruit,” Jennings said. “It is a question that is asked in terms of ‘Do you have a men’s team?’.”

Buff said that she empathizes with all of the men’s programs being cut, but said that having a men’s team would not improve her squad.

“We need to have men’s programs and it’s sad that they are going by the wayside,” Buff said. “Do I think we are going to be better off with a men’s team? No, I don’t believe that.”

Reprinted with permission from and copyright of the Athens Post