Swim team charts new waters
Chelsea Miller SPORTS REPORTER
Issue date: 10/20/09 Section: Sports
According to an annual survey conducted by the National Sporting Goods Association, interest in swimming is on the rise. It is currently the second most popular sport activity and has been climbing steadily since 2003, except for a drop in 2006. Experts credit this jump to popular athletes such as Michael Phelps, who with his super-star status, have brought swimming back to the national forefront.
Youngstown State University's athletic program has been seeing this rise in popularity as well. Women's swim coach Matt Anderson, has been coaching at YSU for six years. He said the swim team this year is bigger than it has been in his years of coaching.
There are 23 women on the team. When the team was formed at YSU in 1975, there were 13 girls, but it ran into trouble with recruiting and funding. In 1977, with only four women competing, YSU could not schedule any meets, and later in 1987, the team was disbanded.
The men's team went through a similar fate. In 1970, the men's coach resigned claiming YSU offered no support and too little funding for him to adequately recruit members. A large number of the team quit and it was eventually shut down.
With the implementation of Title Nine in schools, the women's swim team was reinstated in 1996. YSU has no men's team, but the women have been making great strides through the ages.
In 1976, YSU's co-ed swim team made history when they broke the Guinness World Record by continuously swimming 100 miles. With 20 swimmers pulling three-hour shifts, they beat the old time of 25 hours, 55 minutes and 3.2 seconds with a new mark of 23 hours, 57 minutes and 42.3 seconds.
Perhaps one of the best swimmers in school history was Olivia Arnold, who swam from 2005-2009. Anderson said Arnold was one of the best players he's coached. Arnold was named The Vindicator/ Youngstown State Athlete of the Year in August and was the first female swimmer in school history to take such honors. She left YSU holding the records in 1,650-yard freestyle with 1 minute, 30 seconds in the 1,000-yard freestyle, and 15 seconds in the 500-yard freestyle. During her senior year, Arnold also did well in the Horizon League Championships, placing third in 1,650 and fifth in the 1,000.
Youngstown State University's athletic program has been seeing this rise in popularity as well. Women's swim coach Matt Anderson, has been coaching at YSU for six years. He said the swim team this year is bigger than it has been in his years of coaching.
There are 23 women on the team. When the team was formed at YSU in 1975, there were 13 girls, but it ran into trouble with recruiting and funding. In 1977, with only four women competing, YSU could not schedule any meets, and later in 1987, the team was disbanded.
The men's team went through a similar fate. In 1970, the men's coach resigned claiming YSU offered no support and too little funding for him to adequately recruit members. A large number of the team quit and it was eventually shut down.
With the implementation of Title Nine in schools, the women's swim team was reinstated in 1996. YSU has no men's team, but the women have been making great strides through the ages.
In 1976, YSU's co-ed swim team made history when they broke the Guinness World Record by continuously swimming 100 miles. With 20 swimmers pulling three-hour shifts, they beat the old time of 25 hours, 55 minutes and 3.2 seconds with a new mark of 23 hours, 57 minutes and 42.3 seconds.
Perhaps one of the best swimmers in school history was Olivia Arnold, who swam from 2005-2009. Anderson said Arnold was one of the best players he's coached. Arnold was named The Vindicator/ Youngstown State Athlete of the Year in August and was the first female swimmer in school history to take such honors. She left YSU holding the records in 1,650-yard freestyle with 1 minute, 30 seconds in the 1,000-yard freestyle, and 15 seconds in the 500-yard freestyle. During her senior year, Arnold also did well in the Horizon League Championships, placing third in 1,650 and fifth in the 1,000.
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