Swimming and Diving Update.

[monsterdb 3]

9 minutes ago, lionheartkc said:

I honestly have no idea.  His name is Trent Stanley. 

Don't remember the name, probably way too many years have passed and my brain is getting old.

Good talking to you. Have a great day.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

10 minutes ago, monsterdb said:

Don't remember the name, probably way too many years have passed and my brain is getting old.

Good talking to you. Have a great day.

You too.

[AU64 10,122]

Good discussion guys.....nice to hear some points based on facts and a realistic view of the changing world of college sports in our state.   The lack of HS programs and nationally competitive development programs in the state are taking a toll on AU and Bama swimming programs as monster noted.  The easy thing to do is blame the coaches....but as he notes, there is much more involved. 

Seems that the Mississippi schools don't have teams in the sport...male or female ...likely for the reasons mentioned above....no serious HS programs in the state and inability to attract top athletes who are willing to pay high out of state tuition.  Only ten teams in the men's field. 

And thanks to Monster for giving credit for the accomplishments of the Auburn D and S teams this year rather than punking them as some folks have done lately.  

[AUGoo 2,658]

On 2/19/2017 at 8:22 PM, AU64 said:

Interesting that on the combined men's and women's teams (60+) there are only 2 women and 3 men from the state of Alabama. 

Is swimming that bad in the state?  do they even have swimming in HS? 

Looks like maybe 1/3 rd of the roster is made up of international students.

Swimming in Alabama is a Club only sport.  There is a high school state meet composed of Club swimmers who go to represent their high schools.  A high school coach is named who is likely a teacher with little if any swim coach experience.  They hold one or two practices and call themselves a team and head out to participate.  There is little, if any, interest outside of the swimming community in this sport, but it allows these incredibly dedicated and hard working kids an opportunity to get a letter and some recognition.   

Facilities are an issue throughout the state.  I'm not aware of any high schools that have a pool, and most communities are only focused on providing for the big three sports- football, basketball, and baseball.   In fact the club teams struggle to find adequate facilities throughout the state.   Auburn, uat, and Huntsville are the only towns with facilities and a commitment by the communities to club swimming. And these towns have a hold on the most quality swimmers coming out. (Add Mobile to that list but they are struggling with facility issues as well) And two of these are only because of the universities.

Birmingham was a bigger name in swimming in the last 10-20 years but through a series of recent, poor decisions by the main team in town it has now turned B'ham swimming into a dumpster fire with only smaller programs fighting senior water aerobics classes for space to train.  The fact that there are any swimmers on the states major university teams at all is remarkable.

 

On 2/20/2017 at 3:11 PM, lionheartkc said:

Of course the math doesn't add up, but when your kid loves a sport and they are good enough to have the opportunity to play for the best, you afford them that opportunity. Don't forget that, when Marsh was at Auburn, they were also a veritable farm team for the Olympics. Private training costs a heck of a lot more and doesn't come with a high quality education.

Marsh left because he and the program weren't being given the respect that they deserve from the AD, because all the PTB who hold the purse strings care about is football, and when they pay credence to any other sport, swimming and diving is FAR down the list.

I would have to agree with you Lionheart,  As a former swimmer recruited by Dave when he was an assistant coach in the mid 80's my information is that you are dead on.  The public reason he left ws to get a better opportunity for US Olympic swimming.  But the AD sure did his best to make it an easy decision.  Dave developed swimmers from all levels to create the MONSTER program that we had. And then he did not seem to have issues getting talent to The Plains.  We had all felt that after a facility was built, recruiting would never be an issue and it wasn't.  You can only blame the recent issues on one person -- plus the AD.

[AUGoo 2,658]

On 4/15/2016 at 6:43 PM, AUGoo said:

It appears that the swimming program is on a very Asmuthian course headed to obscurity. As a former swimmer it pains me to watch the slide after having been to the mountain top. Coach Asmuth was the head coach in the mid 80's and was hired up from his assistant coaching spot after a couple of very successful coaches had passed through. Under his guidance, the program rode the coattails of his predecessors until it became obvious that the direction of the program was tanking. Initially talent was not the issue, until it was, and the program disappeared into obscurity for several years until Dave Marsh came home and the new facility was built.

It would appear that history has repeated itself with the hiring of an assistant on the coattails of two legendary swimming coaches. Painful to watch.

It's just a shame that we are unwilling to maintaining a top tier program so soon after the historical run that we have had.

Thanks JJ. If you're unwilling to bust it to keep our most successful coach, at least find a top level replacement to maintain the program at a competitive level.

I get it is not a money making sport. But only one is. Thank you football.

Said this a year ago.

Still stands.

[AURex 1,983]

Auburn women finish 18th at Nationals. Top 5 teams featured two from the SEC -- Texas A&M in 4th, Georgia in 5th. Kentucky, Alabama and Missouri also finished ahead of Auburn in the final standings. Stanford and Cal topped the teams with Stanford big over everybody. Texas was 5th. So, the three traditional national powers that Auburn has competed with on occasion are still at the top.

No Auburn women were even close to the podium. The only Auburn swimmers to finish in the top 10 were Ashley Neidigh (8th) and Haley Black (9th). Auburn had one 7th place relay finish.

This is NOT a criticism of the women on our team. They train so hard and compete to the absolute top of their ability. I am proud of their effort, and their progress -- often swimming PBs and entering the Auburn record books. I am criticizing Auburn recruiting, which has fallen off so far that the team as a whole is no longer competitive even with other SEC teams.

 

[augolf1716 21,094]

sad but so true

[aubaseball 2,583]

Wonder if rowdy would come home and turn this back around 

[Mikey 16,545]

11 hours ago, aubaseball said:

Wonder if rowdy would come home and turn this back around 

That's an interesting thought, but is Rowdy any sort of coach? He's certainly knowledgeable in all facets of the sport but it takes a certain type of mentality to be a successful coach. Has Rowdy ever even tried coaching?

[AUGoo 2,658]

No.

[AURex 1,983]

I don't see Rowdy coaching, but I sure would like to see him involved in recruiting for Auburn. That said, I wonder if any of the young swimmers these days ever even heard of him. Us old geezers remember him, but younguns?

 

[AURex 1,983]

The final standings of the Men's Swimming was almost as abysmal as the women's. Auburn finished in 12th place. Other SEC teams that finished ahead of Auburn were Florida (3rd), UGA (8th), Missouri (9th) and Alabama (10th). Other swimming powerhouses that finished ahead of Auburn included NC State, Louisville and Indiana.

No Auburn swimmer even made the finals in any event. Auburn's former rivals Texas, Cal and Stanford once again competed for the national title, along with Florida from the SEC.

Again, I'm not criticizing our swimmers, who work hard and compete to the utmost of their ability. I'm criticizing the recruiting, which does not provide the kind of quality depth required to succeed.

With the continuing decline of the swimming program, I'm personally of the opinion that Hawke is not going to be able to return Auburn to competitiveness nationally or even within the conference, and that it is time for Auburn to replace him with a HC who can pull in the level of talent required in sufficient numbers.

 

[augolf1716 21,094]

Its not the trend you want to see for sure

[AlaskanFAN 1,665]

For the men the last three teams to win titles have been Texas (10, 15, 16, 17), Cal (11, 12, 14), Michigan (13).

For the women the last four teams to win titles have been Cal (09, 11, 12, 15), Georgia (13, 14, 16), Florida (10), Stanford (17).

I think we might think about hitting up one of these programs, possible Cal about a new swim coach. 

[AuburnNTexas 7,127]

14 hours ago, AlaskanFAN said:

For the men the last three teams to win titles have been Texas (10, 15, 16, 17), Cal (11, 12, 14), Michigan (13).

For the women the last four teams to win titles have been Cal (09, 11, 12, 15), Georgia (13, 14, 16), Florida (10), Stanford (17).

I think we might think about hitting up one of these programs, possible Cal about a new swim coach. 

I like the idea but why would a Cal coach want to come here. The state of Alabama does not have any elite programs to create elite swimmers and Auburn has not shown the inclination to truly support Auburn swimming in a while.  If we wouldn't support it while we were a National Power what makes you think we will support it now.

[Tigger1985 805]

I don't give dam if it's tiddlywinks , I want Auburn to be the best. If the AD or any other Admin doesn't want this they need to GO and fast. Dye did us wrong on wrestling and should have never AD and Football coach but that was a sign of the times then. From the tuition stand point they all are making money.

[AlaskanFAN 1,665]

On 6/20/2017 at 10:56 AM, AuburnNTexas said:

I like the idea but why would a Cal coach want to come here. The state of Alabama does not have any elite programs to create elite swimmers and Auburn has not shown the inclination to truly support Auburn swimming in a while.  If we wouldn't support it while we were a National Power what makes you think we will support it now.

If the state of Alabama had no elite programs to create swimmers, how did we win all those titles. We recruited. Bringing in someone who has won titles and knows how to recruit and has access to a hot bed of elite swimming program areas. We gotta start somewhere. We also go back overseas, Australia, Brazil, Europe. I know Texas and Stanford do that a lot due to their quality education. Didn't we just get done redoing the aquatics diving area and are working on the pool?

[AuburnNTexas 7,127]

Alaska I love your enthusiasm we were multi-times National Champions with the best coach in the business and then we quit doing the things we needed to do so he quit. Unless the athletic Department (Jay Jacobs) has changed what coach could honestly expect us to back the coach in a way that we could recruit like we did in the past. I like your idea of bringing in a young coach from a Program like cal I just don't think a coach like that would come here unless he saw some type of change in the way we support swimming. I hope I am wrong and you are right but history points the other way.

[mustache eagle 2,388]

AUC has a thread that marsh took a D2 job in cali ...

that is simply unbelievable ...

[AU64 10,122]

On 6/28/2017 at 1:06 PM, mustache eagle said:

AUC has a thread that marsh took a D2 job in cali ...

that is simply unbelievable ...

There is probably a good reason.....maybe several..?

[bvmay 2]

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