New club swim team on the rise

In 2004, it was the fourth most-watched sporting event in the world, after FIFA's Euro 2004, the Super Bowl and the Olympic 100m dash. Furthermore, this sport has produced dozens of international stars, most of whom have become household names.

It seemed that nobody could escape the global dominance of swimming during the months prior to and after the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Michael Phelps had endorsed nearly every product for television, Amanda Beard graced the cover of For Him Magazine, Maxim and Stuff, and Ian Thorpe was the topic of feature articles in Sports Illustrated and Time Magazine. Until last year, however, this sport, which claimed over 65 million viewers worldwide in 2004, had a lack of presence and recognition among Princeton's club sports program.

Junior Mallory James joined varsity crew as a walk-on her freshman year, but left the team at the end of the fall season. Still wishing to participate athletically on campus, James browsed the myriad club sports offered at Princeton and was shocked to discover that club swimming was not among them. Princeton had club fencing and squash, yet swimming was absent from the list. James took the initiative and gathered a small group with a shared interest in forming a club swim team.

"There were many steps needed in order to create a legitimate club sport, much harder than I thought it was going to be initially," junior Tamar Saunders said. "Princeton plays up how if the club you want is not here, you can start your own. But it really is not that easy."

In order to establish a club, the club initiators had to undergo a laborious multi-step process, beginning with a proposal detailing the specifics of the new club, including practice times, estimated budget, nearby opponent teams and future goals. Even after drafting this JP-length proposal, however James and her fellow officers met with the Club Sports Administration several times before the proposal could even be approved.

The club sports administration pressed several regulations upon the team. They needed a set pool time at Dillon Gym that had not already been reserved by recreational teams. They needed funding to pay for two lifeguards, through only one University-affiliated company. The most difficult process was the recruitment however. The rules state that a team cannot advertise at the Activities Fair or on campus, with the exception of word-of-mouth, Point and on facebook.com.

"We found it frustrating and difficult to find possible members, and I personally almost thought it was not going to be possible to get this club going at the end of spring 2005," James said. "I honestly didn't think it was going to happen."

James had almost given up the formation, but with the arrival of the new 2005-06 school year and an influx of new students, James received a plethora of questions about the club swim team. With the use of Facebook as a key recruiting tool, James, Saunders, sophomore Caitlin Seery and junior Sebastian Urday revived the old proposal and successfully created an official team on Oct. 19.

For many of the members, the club swim team was an option for leisurely, stress-free, organized and fun swim practices for exercise and team camraderie.

"I used to swim in high school, and I originally thought that I was going to swim in college as well," sophomore Jeremy Amon said. "I came to Princeton with the intent of walking on the swim team, but I quickly decided that the time commitment was too great. I had been swimming for most of my life, so this came as quite a shock. Club Swimming offered me a chance to do everything else that I wanted to do here and to continue swimming at the same time."

Unlike Amon, however, not everyone on the team had competitive swimming experience in high school. The team has no requirements to joining, with an exception of a $75 club fee to pay for lifeguards. Even the meets are optional — which the team has had two to date, against JMU and Penn..

"Our goal is to accommodate swimmers in the Princeton community who want to improve their swimming, train for competition against other college club teams, and achieve their personal goals in a fun and supportive environment," James said. "All swimmers are encouraged to compete, but meets are optional. We wanted to focus on personal improvement and having fun."

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Currently, the team maintains twice-weekly practices on Wednesday at 9-11 p.m. and Sundays at 4-6 p.m. The team also organizes dry land practices, which include aerobic and weight training exercises, on Tuesdays and Saturdays. The team has already gathered a group of 30 active members and continues to accept new members everyday.