By Phillip Whitten<\/p>\n
April 5. MOST of the recent news on the future of Olympic sports at the collegiate level \u2013 particularly men\u2019s Olympic sports – has been dismal. Nearly 600 men\u2019s collegiate Division I teams in wrestling, track and field, gymnastics, baseball, tennis and, of course, swimming have been axed in the last 15 years, victims of spiraling salaries for football and basketball coaches, other budgetary pressures and shortfalls, and the exigencies of Title IX. Perhaps most devastating has been the nearly total lack of creative thinking and imaginative solutions on the part of athletic directors and other university officials.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why it is refreshing to learn of one newly appointed athletic director whose intention it is to re-establish men\u2019s swimming \u2013 as well as baseball and tennis \u2013 at his university.<\/p>\n
The guy in the white hat is Jamie Pollard, who last fall left the University of Wisconsin, where he was an associate A.D., to take the reins at Iowa State University. Pollard was highly regarded in Madison and since arriving in Ames, he has received rave reviews.<\/p>\n
Two months ago Pollard, who was an age group swimmer and a collegiate runner, announced his intention to reinstate men\u2019s swimming, tennis and baseball at Iowa State. All three programs were cut in 2001 due to budgetary pressures. The story was first reported in theAmes (IA) Tribune<\/i> by staff writer Dick Kelly. Recently I spoke with Steve Malchow (no relation to Tom), ISU\u2019s new Senior Associate Athletic Director for Communications about the announcement.<\/p>\n
Pollard is realistic. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to happen tomorrow,\u201d Malchow said. \u201cIt could be three, five or even eight years down the road. But it\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
A big part of the problem is money. \u201cRight now we have the twelfth largest budget in the Big 12 conference,\u201d Malchow explained, with just a touch of irony. \u201cIt\u2019s one-third the size of Texas\u2019 budget. As we get sound financially, we will restore the three sports.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJamie doesn\u2019t just want to re-establish men\u2019s swimming and the other two sports,\u201d Malchow explained, \u201che wants the teams to be competitive. That means scholarships and a brand new facility that will attract top swimmers to ISU. <\/p>\n
What motivates Pollard, Malchow said, is the US Sports Academy Directors\u2019 Cup (formerly the Sears Directors\u2019 Cup), which is an all-sports ranking of Division I collegiate athletic programs. \u201cIt\u2019s the best way to measure total sports success and it encourages a broad-based program,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Last year Stanford, a perennial winner, won the Cup with 1,238.75 points. Texas was second with 1,074 points and UCLA third with 1,067. ISU placed 60th with 285.75 points.<\/p>\n
Under the Directors\u2019 Cup system, colleges and universities are awarded points based upon how they finish in 10 men\u2019s and 10 women\u2019s sports. Currently, Iowa State \u2013 one of the few schools with more male than female students – has 11 women\u2019s and seven men\u2019s teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cJamie would like us to be a top-20 program some day,\u201d Malchow said, \u201cbut we\u2019re not even close right now. We don\u2019t even have 10 men\u2019s sports right now. If we don't have the same length stick that everybody else has, we have no chance."<\/p>\n
Eric Hansen, head swim coach at the University of Wisconsin, a 1988 graduate of Iowa State and the last Cyclone to win an NCAA swimming title, knows Pollard well. Currently the head US men\u2019s coach at the Short Course World Championships in Shanghai, Hansen described Pollard as \u201ca brilliant, driven guy. It\u2019s exciting to have someone like Jamie, with his vision and ability to get things done, in that position.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe will build a great program and he knows the value of Olympic sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Jamie says he\u2019s going to build a new facility, then you can be sure he\u2019s going to do it. And, of course, it\u2019s what we need,\u201d Hansen added. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is really significant. It puts pressure on other schools in the Big 12 – Nebraska, Kansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma \u2013 to bring back their men\u2019s swim teams as well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Phillip Whitten April 5. MOST of the recent news on the future of Olympic sports at the collegiate level \u2013 particularly men\u2019s Olympic sports – has been dismal. Nearly<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6,8,7,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-college","category-high-school","category-usa","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n