In the Wake of Princeton, the Image of College Swimming Must Change

Photo Courtesy: Cathleen Pruden

Katie Wingert, Swimming World College Intern.

Princeton’s swim program briefly topped national headlines last week when its men’s team’s season was suspended indefinitely, but the headlines had a greater story to tell about the image of college swimming as a whole. The suspension came after the discovery of conversations on a school-sponsored online database in which swimmers made comments that were “vulgar and offensive, as well as misogynistic and racist in nature,” according to a statement released by the school on December 15.

The press release and pending suspension sent a few ripples across the greater swimming community, as the administration promised more extensive details and a definitive decision about the remainder of the team’s season. The announcement follows three of its kind within the last month, but this latest announcement is the only one that has concerned a swim program. This fall, Harvard’s men’s soccer team, Columbia’s wrestling team, and Amherst’s men’s cross country team were all suspended for similar situations.

Unsurprisingly, most national news sources moved on from the Princeton situation within a day. More surprising, however, is the way that the swimming community also moved on shortly after the press release. When Swimming World posted its online story announcing the suspension on Facebook, less than 200 people liked the post, and only a handful of concerned readers shared it. In comparison, when Swimming World shared Ryan Lochte‘s engagement photo, that same week, over 1,000 people liked the post, and nearly 50 people shared it.

As the week went on, Junior Nationals results have held our attention; indoor air quality has remained a hot topic of conversation. Needless to say, none of these story lines are unimportant. I love fast swimming just as much as anyone else, and my swimming career and personal health have been irreparably affected by bad air quality. But the way that we have willingly moved on from such a devastating story—one that likely has and will have impact real people in both ways that we can imagine and ways we cannot—is both alarming and sobering.

Our community has failed to openly acknowledge a devastating problem perpetuated by the “elite” Ivy League swimmers who epitomize the collegiate level of our sport to the greater public, whether we like it or not. We can swim fast, and we can lobby for better air quality, but if we are unwilling to acknowledge the implicit flaws in our public image and make progress in improving ourselves, then the gains we make in our athletic endeavors and facilities are for naught.

Some might argue that the Princeton incident is an isolated, rare one, and to take responsibility for it as a community is to grant it a power it should not have over us. While I admit that Princeton is the only swim team I know of to be suspended for similar behavior this college season, perhaps by examining history we can better understand the way that the public image of the swimming community has been affected by recent, similar situations.

Last year, the University of Scranton notoriously cancelled its swim season for both the men’s and women’s swim teams while conducting an investigation of alleged Title IX violations, in addition to alleged violations of the school’s alcohol and hazing policies. Twelve team members were ultimately charged with violations. The year before, Western Kentucky University came under fire after a first-year student submitted a report on hazing, alcohol incidents, and sexual assault. The WKU program was suspended for five years, but the program was not terminated without leaving yet another black mark on the collegiate reputation of our sport.

And who can forget negative conversation surrounding our sport last summer, before the Olympic buzz picked up? When Stanford’s Brock Turner sexually assaulted an unconscious woman, national headlines repeatedly acknowledged his status as a swimmer and emphasized the negative aspects of our sport—even if we ourselves tried to brush off Turner himself as an anomaly that our sport was not responsible for creating. Even those outside of our swimming community began hunting down Turner’s swimming records and roster headshot.

These incidents, when we arrange them together, make up a dark portrait of the sport we love: an image of crudeness, racism, entitlement, sexism, aggressiveness, and arrogance. Will these unfortunate, certainly not isolated, incidents continue? Will our sport’s image continue to corrode?

As a college swimming community, we cannot continue to turn our heads the other direction. These incidents have happened, and they will continue to happen, unless we do something to change the culture of college swimming and the individual cultures of our teams. The image of college swimming will be forever damaged, unless we speak up soon. Further, and far more important than the image of our sport, sacred lives of recruits, student-athletes, and innocent people have been devastated by the horrifying, inappropriate beliefs and behaviors of swimmers and teams. We cannot continue to allow this devastation.

I write, not as a distanced critic, but as a member of a college swim team. Each press release horrifies me more than the last. Friends, from both within the swimming community and outside of it, question me about my team’s culture. I am embarrassed when I sense old friends silently wondering if my team is the same as these teams who are publicized. In my third year swimming for my program, I can feel confident in my replies as to the values of our team culture. I am fortunate to swim under the guidance of coaches and captains who provide leadership, not just in the pool, but also in matters of character.

And yet, like anyone else, I have friends that I have competed against in high school that are swimming at institutions all around the country. Many of these swimming programs are, I’m aware, upstanding both athletically, academically, and ethically. But some programs are not, and some programs are undoubtedly allowing “grey areas” to become the norm of their swimming programs.

It is not my place to make inferences or accusations about programs and individuals of which I know little. It would be easy for me, or any of us, to sound off on Princeton, or any other team, without knowing all of the facts, or knowing how we would respond to a situation, had we been a part of a particular program. Every team has its flaws, whether they are serious issues like those that have come to light over the past year or so, or whether they are more harmless, like sleeping through alarms for morning workouts.

We need to examine ourselves—and our own teams—before we point fingers at one another. How many of us have laughed externally while shuddering internally at the thoughtless, uncomfortable comment of a teammate? How many of us have remained silent when a teammate posts an inappropriate remark in our team’s Facebook group? We are guilty when we do not stand up for what is right.

It is the responsibility of all college swimmers to critically consider our own team cultures. It is up to us to carefully watch our teams and listen to our teams’ conversations. It should be our intent to stand up and speak up when our team cultures are corrupted. It should be our duty to educate those around us about ways to respectfully and appropriately socialize in college settings.

Despite the disheartening image of our sport that has begun to develop, I have hope for our progress. Like many, I entered our sport as a kindergartener. In the early years, my love of swimming was supported by an early aptitude for butterfly and insatiable hunger for bake sale food, but my love of the sport was ultimately sustained by the way that swimming brought people together. In my 16 years competing in our sport, I’ve seen siblings, cheering on their little brother or sister to finish that fateful first 25 yards by waving a goggle along the wall. I’ve admired grandmas wheeling on deck in wheelchairs just to catch a glimpse of their growing swimmers. I’ve watched eight-and-under acquaintances, formed between competitors on the heat bench, blossom into lifelong friendships.

I still believe that these moments and relationships are the essence of our sport: simple, beautiful human decency. The essence of our sport should not change when college begins. It is our responsibility to maintain the true essence of swimming, whether we are first-year students or fifth-year seniors. We cannot afford to be oblivious or apathetic.

All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.

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Kimberly Wright Reher

7 years ago

Well said

Kara Muscillo

7 years ago

It is deplorable what the Princeton athletes did…….They should be ashamed and I am ashamed they represent a sport I love so much!

Han

7 years ago

Get over it snowflake. They are kids and they say stupid things. Wont be the last time…Rob Orr’s/AD’s decision to suspend is a gross overeaction and penalizes many who were not involved.

Steve Schaffer

7 years ago

I would offer that it is not the image of college swimming that needs to change, it is the behavior and mindset of college swimmers that needs to change. All too often following such incidents the comments section of the swimming blogs are filled with entries stating how all schools in DI or the NCAA have the same behaviors and it will never change, and suggesting it has always been done that way and always will. While simply not true, it reflects the sense of entitlement and the denial of responsibility that many have.

Programs will continue to be at risk as long as athletes and coaches don’t realize that their value to their departments and university depends on their behavior at least as much as it does on their performance as athletes.

Tori Randle Fahrney

7 years ago

Reply to Steve Schaffer

Thank you. Well said.

Paul

7 years ago

Reply to Steve Schaffer

To All –

Beyond what Steve said, this is an issue for that age group across all colleges and all sports, clubs, groups, etc.. I graduated from an Ivy school in the 70s and I just finished 8 years at a D-III school. Nothing has changed from the 70s.

There is a reason, I hate to say it, why many members of the 18-24 age groups can be called “young and dumb.” It does not matter how smart/intelligent/entitled they feel – these groups are going to do stupid things before they think about the consequences.

The adults in these group need to follow an age old rule – you can choose your behavior, but you cannot choose the consequences. How else will they learn unless the less dumb don’t set the standard? Otherwise, we end up with alot of Donald Trumps which is unfortunate.

Frances Bush

7 years ago

Reply to Steve Schaffer

Steve,
Did you actually read the article beyond the headline? The author outlines a call to action for college swimmers to change the culture of their teams, not just the image.

David Sims

7 years ago

Reply to Frances Bush

Behold. See speech texted between black football players who were then on the Golden Gophers team at the University of Minnesota, who were either planning or executing the gang-rape of a female student.

“Party at my crib 331 invite hoes!!”
“I got 4 hoes where the party at”
“Go to the rail hella hoes”
“i just told some hoes”
“if she aint tryna fck imma be pissed.”
“run her?”
“Me and the recruit finna double team this bitch.”
“Lol we forreal going brazy lol.”
“all 3 them n****s hitting rn.”
“I’m sliding in some pussy rn lol”

My apologies for the explicitness of the words, but those were the words used, and softening them with substitutes and euphemisms would conflict with the entire point of this comment.

Keep in mind that NONE of those sexist, misogynistic comments made by black football players resulted in any school disciplinary action, per se. The Gophers football team wasn’t suspended en masse, nor were any of the black football players suspended purely on account of their offensive speech. It apparently takes a gang-rape following such speech to get any black athletes suspended.

By contrast, whom the white athletes on Princeton’s Swimming and Diving team were suspended for speech alone. And it is difficult to imagine what the offending team members said that might have been more offensive than what I quoted above. That is, it’s unclear what it is Princeton’s men’s S&D team members might have said that was equal in egregiousness with the gang-rape perpetrated by Minnesota’s black football players.

I’m being facetious, of course. What we have here is a racial disparity in the severity of punishment. Blacks get away with more than whites do. Blacks get a pass when they are offensive. Whites are held to stricter standards. Whites suffer more when they break rules that infringe upon the freedom of speech. The way in which academia recognizes racism is racist. The way in which academia recognizes sexism is sexist.

Fred Flickinger

7 years ago

Well said Katie! We are all accountable to each other and should act with a sound sense of morality, ethics and sportsmanship.

Richard P. Morrall

7 years ago

Never let a problem go by without calling for more PC bull. If we only had more affirmative-action in swimming, everything would be fine. Bull! If we had fewer people ignoring free speech things would be better.

Leander

7 years ago

Why are so many leftist institutions like colleges and universities such cesspools of racism and sexism? We should eliminate their tax exemptions and taxpayer funding until they get their act together.

Susan L. Lansbury

7 years ago

not when our Prez gets away with way worse crap!!!!

Jeannie Zappe

7 years ago

Well done, Katie Wingert!

Todd k.

7 years ago

I would like to know exactly what was said on this site by the swimmers. I heard a rumor that they were “ranking” girls. If that’s what happened then two things. One, this has and always will be done by guys. Two, in this PC world these guys were morons for doing this on a school site. No amount of emasculation of men is going to stop this behavior.

Ирена Павловић

7 years ago

Elizabeth Nicholson

Coachandy

7 years ago

Horrified by what? Does anyone know what was said? Katie took a thousand words to say nothing. It is this big mystery,and people are acting like they know and are offended. There is not enough info to even speculate. Stop with the SJW nonsense. Overreaction by the bureaucrats. Most likely an overreaction by students. Until someone produces proof, shut up. This is not a swimming culture thing. Oh yeah,Hillary lost…big

select few on a mens team

7 years ago

Reply to Coachandy

i love you andy

Jane

7 years ago

I find this article very disturbing. This author condemns a team of individuals with no information about what transpired. In fact, I think the court of public opinion is incredibly hard on a group of students for whom little is known. The author even resorts to unacceptable labels in calling the Ivy teams as elitist- and on what grounds. Really, if you are going to sit on your high horse and point fingers, get the facts and do some research. Otherwise you look like a fool and an elitist yourself. Oh wait. I forgot. You say only the Ivy students are elitist

Frances Bush

7 years ago

Reply to Jane

Jane, I don’t know where you went to college, but you don’t need to go to an Ivy League school to read carefully or quote accurately. The author NEVER calls Ivy League swimmers “elitist.” She describes them with the adjective, “elite.” Go to your handy online dictionary, which will define that adjective something like this: “something prestigious or the best of the best.” (“Elitist”–the term you insist on firebombing with– is a different animal, defined as: “persons or members of certain groups who believe they deserve favored treatment by virtue of their superiority.”) Now that we have addressed your misquotation, is there really anyone reading Swimming World who doubts that a roster spot on an Ivy League swim team is a “prestigious” accomplishment, or that those student-athletes represent some of the “best of the best”? In addition to your misleading (whether intentional or unintentional) characterization of the author’s use of the term “elite”, your comment that the author is on “a high horse” and “pointing fingers” shows that you do not comprehend–or choose to not comprehend– the author’s main point: “It is not my place to make inferences or accusations about programs and individuals of which I know little. It would be easy for me, or any of us, to sound off on Princeton, or any other team, without knowing all of the facts, or knowing how we would respond to a situation, had we been a part of a particular program. Every team has its flaws, whether they are serious issues like those that have come to light over the past year or so, or whether they are more harmless, like sleeping through alarms for morning workouts. We need to examine ourselves—and our own teams—before we point fingers at one another. How many of us have laughed externally while shuddering internally at the thoughtless, uncomfortable comment of a teammate? How many of us have remained silent when a teammate posts an inappropriate remark in our team’s Facebook group? We are guilty when we do not stand up for what is right.” Okay, Jane. Time to check the dictionary again. Does that sound like elitist speech to you? (Hint: It’s the opposite.) Now then, Jane, how is that ride on YOUR intellectually dishonest high horse treating you? Sleep well knowing you sounded off on a college swimmer who dared to encourage her swimming brothers and sisters to pursue integrity of character in their hours out of the water, not just faster swims in it.