Making A Splash: Men’s Swimming Coming Soon
By Carlota Garcia
Staff Writer
As announced in January, Lynn will have a men’s swimming team starting during the 2019-2020 season, further expanding its athletics program and moving forth on its perennial expansion.
When the women’s swimming team was established six years ago, the University’s desire to have both teams had already been lingering. Since then, the women’s team has seen moderate success, however, the program is still young and improving.
The men’s team has started developing and moving forward in the recruiting process. Current women’s coach Niki Alvarez and assistant coach Jimmy Martin are the individuals in charge of building the program.
“It makes us feel complete. We are the only school in the conference without a men’s team,” said Alvarez. “The other schools in the conference are looking forward to the addition, too.”
The men’s team will compete alongside the women’s team in the Sunshine State Conference, have dual meets, swim and travel together.
The expected size for their first year will be ten swimmers, a number that will grow as the program does.
“I hope that [our group] will be bigger than that,” said Alvarez. “I think it is possible based on the time we have to recruit.”
The team will also mirror the Lynn community population, possessing a significant percentage of international students.
“Lynn is an international school with a lot of international students, especially athletes who know about our school,” said Alvarez. “We are expecting to have some international students on the team to reflect Lynn’s diverse community.”
Though immediate success should not be expected, Alvarez and Martin are excited and looking forward to the new challenges and opportunities that wait on the horizon.
