What did Clester Johnson know?

[Hawkdiver]

You guessed it although my time was before coach Waikel,

It has been a bad year with the elimination of swimming (and reinstatement of womens) and is particularly crushing for those that made significant donations to building the new pool, a true world class facility that deserves to be used. It is without a doubt the best sport venue on campus and will be largely underutilized.

I don't know if it is still open but if the fieldhouse pool is still open take a swim there someday, to see how we used to live. When my son lived in the dorms on the west side he used to swim there a couple times a week (4 years ago) and was amazed that we were a top ten team year over year with that sh!tty of a pool. Fastest pool in the country when it was built but things change a lot over 100 years.

I think this is just the start of swimming programs going away in the Big Ten. I think MN and MSU followed Iowa in cancelling and Rutgers and Maryland have not had mens swimming since joining the conference. With NU and IL dropping it years ago this leaves just 6 programs in the conference. I could see all but MI and OSU dropping it which will be sad as the Big Ten has always been the top or second best conference in spite of being cold weather states.

 

[PCastro]

By support staff I mean everything from training staff, athletic department resources, tutoring set up/resources, fan support, alumni involvement, and more than anything community support.

This was quite a number of years ago and things may have changed in Lincoln but for an Olympic sport the support in Iowa City was outstanding. This may have been due to our coaches and their connections within the community but there was nothing I could have needed that wasn't a phone call away, typically at a very substantial discount. We frequently would have business owners at practice (bars/restaurants, florists, lawyers, etc.) and got to know them all. One summer I had a job with the county that never would have been available without a connection through my coach. While these things may have existed in Lincoln it was never mentioned during the recruiting process. Having been around the program/coaches for years, and being the only division 1 prospect in the state (region??) it is something I would have been aware of it it was there.

One of the downsides to this community support was "giving back". We practiced before every home football game as it was a popular tailgating stop for people but took away our pregame festivities, losing that game day experience is big for a college student (especially one that was raised on Nebraska football). We would have hundreds of spectators for practice on game days which led to frequent sell outs for competitions, rare in the olympic sport world.

Interesting. Would not have known it was better at iowa as we always get info that support here is top notch. Thanks

 

[9and4_rivals188421]

You guessed it although my time was before coach Waikel,

It has been a bad year with the elimination of swimming (and reinstatement of womens) and is particularly crushing for those that made significant donations to building the new pool, a true world class facility that deserves to be used. It is without a doubt the best sport venue on campus and will be largely underutilized.

I don't know if it is still open but if the fieldhouse pool is still open take a swim there someday, to see how we used to live. When my son lived in the dorms on the west side he used to swim there a couple times a week (4 years ago) and was amazed that we were a top ten team year over year with that sh!tty of a pool. Fastest pool in the country when it was built but things change a lot over 100 years.

I think this is just the start of swimming programs going away in the Big Ten. I think MN and MSU followed Iowa in cancelling and Rutgers and Maryland have not had mens swimming since joining the conference. With NU and IL dropping it years ago this leaves just 6 programs in the conference. I could see all but MI and OSU dropping it which will be sad as the Big Ten has always been the top or second best conference in spite of being cold weather states.

The field house pool (the birthplace of the butterfly!) is still open for use, but I have a nice private locker away from the student locker room in the rec center, so I use the natatorium. It's truly world class, as you noted.

I've always advocated for the removal of football as an intercollegiate sport that counts against scholarship limits. Keep it on campus, hire the students who play it as employees and find a way to keep the revenue so the Olympic sports can still provide an outlet for non-football athletes. Think about what an athletic department could do with 85 men's scholarships if they weren't tied up in the football program — here in Iowa, that would be hockey, men's swimming and diving, men's soccer and even full baseball scholarships instead of partial.

Be well, Go Big Red and Fight for ... I just can't do it. Sorry.

 

[dinglefritz]

WR depth chart and recruiting class at Iowa was a lot thinner than Nebraska's. People make things so complicated.

 

[WHCSC]

WR depth chart and recruiting class at Iowa was a lot thinner than Nebraska's. People make things so complicated.

people LOVE them some drama

 

[chisler]

CJ has an axe to grind. Which led to his son going to a school with one of the worst offense in CFB, because it was the only offer he had that wasn't Nebraska..

hope he enjoys cold turkey on thanksgiving.