As part of the announcement that the Linsey pool will be opened in time for the spring 2012 semester, the University announced in a March 31 BrandeisNOW press release that it will be reinstating the varsity swimming and diving team in time for the 2012-2013 season. "We're thrilled, we couldn't be happier," Director of Athletics Sheryl Sousa '90 said. "I knew that the pool would reopen, I knew we'd have swimming again. I'm pleasantly surprised by how quickly this happened. So to do this project next year and to get the team the year after, I think it's great, and we're all really excited."

Current Co-president of the Swimming and Diving Club and former varsity swimmer Aaron Bennett '11 said he was shocked when he read the March 31 e-mail from Student Union President Daniel Acheampong '11 to the student body.

"[I was] surprised and excited," he said in an interview with the Justice. "We'd been waiting a long time for this, and to finally have it come without any warning was a good e-mail to wake up to."

Both the varsity swimming and varsity golf teams were cut after the 2009-2010 season.

However, according to a Sept. 1, 2009 Justice article, golf was cut for budgetary reasons, while the swimming team was dropped for logistical reasons due to the difficulty of running a program without a functioning pool.

"If the pool were still operating in a proper way, we would not be looking to suspend our swimming program," Sousa said in the article.

Sousa said that the return of the varsity swimming and diving team does not mean that the University has plans to reinstate the varsity golf program.

Sousa also said that she felt badly for current athletes who will have lost two seasons of varsity swimming, especially for upperclassmen who will miss their final seasons.

"Obviously, the students who are here now, I feel really badly that they had to experience all of this, and that they were the ones who have suffered the most from this," she said. "I wish none of it happened, but hopefully they will focus on the good work that they did as far as championing for the program. They did an excellent job of communicating how important it was to them that they were varsity swimmers, and that was a part in what made this happen. So they played a big role in getting the pool back and getting the program back. So hopefully, though they won't benefit, they'll feel good knowing that there will be swimming here again."

Former varsity swimmer and current Treasurer of the Brandeis Swimming Club Marc Eder '12 said that, while he was thrilled that the swim team was returning, he and other current juniors and seniors were still disappointed that their varsity careers were cut short.

"I am disappointed that I'm missing out on half of my career in college and that there was a break in this team's history," Eder said in an interview with the Justice. "Classes 2011 to 2014 all missed out on eligibility. I'm glad that I made the most of my years and others will say the same, and I'm happy that others will get the chance to compete. I'm excited that they are bringing it back, and I'd like to think it's the result of the hard work of [former swim coach Jim] Zotz, alumni and former varsity, and that it shows that there are a lot of people who care about the team."

Sousa said that she is unsure if Zotz, who currently serves as an assistant director of athletics overseeing the strength and conditioning program, will return as head coach of the team when it returns. She said that the goal was to have a coach in place by this summer and to start recruiting new swimmers thereafter.

"[Zotz] has done an excellent job with [his current responsibilities], and he's really enjoying it, but in the same respect he's an amazing swim coach," she explained. "So, honestly, for us it's a win-win in whatever role he's in. Either way the plan is for him to be here. We hope that he's here and he and I will need to talk and figure out what's best."

Bennett said that he was confident that current underclassmen would step up for the team regardless of who coaches the program.

"We just handed over the club to sophomores and juniors," he said. "They'll be ready and willing to hop back in the water when the pool reopens. Hopefully the pool reopening will attract a new batch of great recruits, and the team will be ready to go without missing a beat."



-Ian Cutler contributed

reporting.