An e-mail from Vincennes University Provost Ronald Davis indicates that the Indiana Junior College will phase out swimming in the coming year.  The move comes after the departure of head coach Dee Woodruff anda year that saw Vincennes finish fourth at both the men's and women's NJCAA Championships.

"We learned late in the spring that we would be losing our swimming coach and that activiated an even closer examination of our swimming program" said Davis.

The examination is part of a regular review process that evaluated how each program supports the Vincennes student body and college mission and the departure leaves a void for a segment of the swimming community that has benefitted from a two-year college prior to enrolling at a four-year program.  It is also the second hit to Indiana, a state that has been one of the nation's leading producers of NCAA Qualifiers.

Davis wrote that the decision came, "After reviewing such factors as number of students served, impact on the entire student body, costs, opportunities, and comparible close by competition."

Davis wrote, the university decided it was time to shutter a pair of programs that had finished fourth at the 2007 NJCAA Championships. 

The elimination is the second cut to Indiana swimming in the past year.  Butler University shuttered its men's program this spring.   In that case the Bulldogs struggled to field the minimum number of men's swimmers to be considered a sport by the NCAA.  That wasn't the case with Vincennes. This past season, over twenty swimmers, representing nearly $80,000 in tuition revenue, comprised the Vincennes roster.  According to the Department of Education, in 2005-06 Vincennes spent just $1,123 in operating expenses (excluding salaries and scholarships). 

Students who choose to focus on swimming in subsequent years will be given assistance in locating other swimming programs, though Davis did not indicate whether the swimmers would be able to retain their scholarships.