LIU Latest to Add Men's Swimming

Long Island University announced today that it was establishing men's swimming as a varsity intercollegiate sport beginning in Fall 2020.  In doing so Long Island becomes the eleventh institution to add the sport for the upcoming season and second in as many weeks.  Since the loss of Eastern Michigan and Wright State in 2018, Division I men’s swimming has added or is in the process of adding five programs.

"Dr. Martinov [LIU athletic director], President Cline and Lloyd Ribner [Deputy Director of Athletics] deserve a lot of credit for their vision and leadership," said Clark Campbell, CSCAA President and Head Women's Coach at Kansas University.  "Coach Donovan has built a successful program the university can be proud of and the addition of a men's team enhances that."

The announcement comes less than two weeks after the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association (CSCAA) recognized Youngstown State’s Jim Tressel and Ron Strollo for reinstating men’s swimming at Youngstown State and the NCAA Division I Council rejected a request from conference commissioners to reduce membership requirements regarding team sponsorship. With last week's addition of men's ice hockey, LIU is now home to thirty two teams - double the minimum for Division I membership.

"Warren Buffet says investors should be bold when others are fearful and LIU is doing just that" explained CSCAA Executive Director. "They're making an investment that will benefit the University fiscally, academically and competitively."

The program will be led by Matt Donovan who has helmed the Sharks for the past four seasons. The 2019-20 season marked one of the best in program history. The team, earned the Northeast Conference’s Team Sportsmanship Award and Amanda Peren was named the NEC’s women's swimming Scholar-Athlete of the Year and NEC and ECAC swimmer-of-the-meet. 

A Deep Talent Pool

New York is one of the nation's most prodigious swimming states. More than 1,200 year-round USA Swimming member clubs are located within 200 miles of the LIU campus with an additional 2,010 high school teams sponsoring the sport.  Between 2017 and 2019 New York produced more college swimmers than any other state including 459 Division I swimmers, second only to California. 

“Swimming is one of the most popular youth sports in the New York metro and tri-state area. These athletes are not only great swimmers but also successful students,” stated Joel Shinofield, Managing Director of Sport Development for USA Swimming. “Adding a men’s program provides another vehicle to attract top students to campus who will become great ambassadors of Long Island University.”

Average SAT Scores

Academically Accomplished

Those swimmers are also smart, boasting average ACT (29.7) and SAT (1284) scores well above New York and national averages.  Beginning this summer those grades translate into dollars under the NCAA's new academic distribution model.  Among men's sports with fifty or more teams swimming and ice hockey - LIU's two newest sports - boast the highest Federal Graduation Rates.

Competitive Benefits

According to Earhart, the Sharks can expect to see a competitive boost as well.  Since 2017 single-gender programs have finished, on average, twelve places lower at the NCAA Championships.  According to the CSCAA, the presence of a men's team typically increases a women's team conference finish by 1/2 place in an eight-team field. 

With the Fall semester just months away potential student-athletes are encouraged to complete a recruiting questionnaire.