Synchronized Swimming

NORTHFIELD, Minn. -- Carleton College announced on April 9 that the Department of Physical Education, Athletics, and Recreation is changing the status of its intercollegiate synchronized swimming program and returning it to the club level at the end of the current school year. Carleton student-athletes participating in the sport will continue to have access to the same competitions that they did as varsity-team members. This includes the North Regional Championships and the annual U.S. Collegiate Championships.

The move back to club stature comes a dozen years after Carleton changed its program to varsity stature in 1998. At that time, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recognized synchronized swimming as one of nine emerging sports for women. However, in July 2008, the NCAA’s Committee on Women’s Athletics recommended to remove synchronized swimming and three other sports—archery, badminton, and team handball—from the emerging sports list for lack of growth. NCAA bylaws require that emerging sports must gain championship status (minimum 40 varsity NCAA programs for individual sports and 28 Division III varsity programs for team sports) within 10 years or show steady progress toward that goal to remain on the list.

"It was our hope 12 years ago when we moved synchronized to a varsity sport, that there would be an increase in the popularity and sponsorship of the sport in both our geographic region and at the NCAA Division III level. Those hopes never materialized,” said Carleton Athletic Director Leon Lunder. “We have decided that the time has come to return synchronized swimming to club sport status."

According to United States Synchronized Swimming (USSS)—which serves as the national governing body for the sport of synchronized swimming—there were only six NCAA varsity synchro programs in 2009-10, with three at the Division I level, one at Division II, and two at Division III. The other D-III varsity program is run by Wheaton College (Mass.).

The lack of programs against which to compete has been a major challenge, making Carleton’s transition to varsity status difficult to maintain. After 12 years, the University of Minnesota club team is the only one of the 34 other NCAA, National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and club teams listed on the USSS Website (usasynchro.org) located within 400 miles of Carleton’s campus.

In fact, of the eight total Division III institutions that have synchronized swimming teams, Carleton is the only one west of the state of Virginia. In addition to the Wheaton College varsity program listed above, the following six East Coast schools sponsor it as a club sport: Babson College (Mass.), Keuka College (N.Y.), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Smith College (Mass.), University of Mary Washington (Va.), and Wellesley College (Mass.). Only three of those six club teams competed at the 2010 U.S. Collegiate Championships.

Three days after Carleton's announcement, Keuka College completely dropped its synchro program, citing the "changing landscape" of the sport and other factors.

Lunder noted that the national championship for synchronized swimming is not sponsored nor funded by the NCAA as other varsity programming is. "With the change in status, the synchronized swimming program will still have access to the same championship opportunities that existed as a varsity sport, but the funding for the program will once again fall under the club sports umbrella."

Rachael Rodeck, the team’s co-head coach, told the Northfield News, "It’s definitely disappointing. It was the only varsity team in the state for collegiate synchro, but it’s understandable given the time the sport had as an NCAA sport. I respect the decision that was made. I’m just glad we’ll still have the team and access to competitions."

Carleton’s other co-head coach, Anika Mikkelson, also shared her thoughts in the April 14 edition of the Northfield News. "It’s a small sport and struggles on a lot of different levels. Synchro was considered an emerging sport, and it’s expensive sport. We had to travel long distances to compete."

The synchronized swim season starts in September and ends in the middle of March. Both Rodeck and Mikkelson have plans to implement fundraising opportunities. They were both in charge of it during their time with the club team at Minnesota.

Mikkelson told the paper that the college is fortunate to still have the club team. "We’re really lucky. It came out about as good as it could have. Once we brought up fundraising ideas, the team felt a little better."

Carleton College will now maintain 20 club sports in addition to its 10 men’s and 10 women’s varsity athletic programs. Staying true to Carleton students’ active lifestyles, more than 500 individuals have been involved with club sports in each of the last six years. A total of 385 student-athletes participated in varsity athletics during the 2009-10 academic year.

Collegiate Synchronized Swimming Teams in 2009-10
(information found at USASynchro.org

*Teams that participated at the 2010 U.S. Collegiate Championships
#Club teams from schools that primarily sponsor varsity sports at the Division III level.