I didn't want to muddy up the "Seven Sports" thread with this, but I'm curious.

Part of the "we need a natatorium" discussion was predicated on the fact that the Rec Center doesn't have a diving well, and W&M therefore doesn't have diving and is at a disadvantage in meets, etc. etc.

But W&M did have diving in the past, and even after the swim team moved to the Rec Center in 1989-90, diving continued at the old Adair Pool. Looking at the 2007-08 "Tribe Swimming & Diving" media guide (here: http://www.nmnathletics.com/fls/25100/da...M_ID=25100 ), it's evident that in that year there were still divers and a diving coach, operating at Adair Pool. Still was there in 2010-11, too: https://issuu.com/tribeathletics/docs/swd . But it seems to be gone the following year, although Matt Crispino was still referred to as "Director of Swimming and Diving." https://issuu.com/tribeathletics/docs/11wsw

So what happened between 2011 and 2012? I gather that the Adair Pool is still there (or at least it was a year ago). Was the diving well eliminated, or decommissioned, or no longer up to NCAA standards, or something? Or was diving eliminated for reasons other than lack of a facility?

I did a little googling -- apparently it wasn't a facilities issue, but a decision to redirect the diving resources into swimming.

https://www.collegeswimming.com/news/201...-swimming/

Does anybody know if the diving well is still there?

(Not that it matters much at this point ...)

Very interesting article. I did not know that swimming and diving each count as a separate sport when adding up sports (for, say, Title IX compliance). This quote, from an unnamed source, is interesting:

"While the move is embraced by Crispino, the separation of the two sports is increasingly driving a wedge among coaches and sports. "There's no reason for the two sports to be combined," one Division I diving coach that requested anonymity. "It is kind of like scoring gymnastics and track together.""

I disagree with that unnamed coach. Separating them is akin to the illogic of separating "track" from "field".

(09-25-2020 10:55 AM)Zorch Wrote:  I disagree with that unnamed coach. Separating them is akin to the illogic of separating "track" from "field".

I kind of see the coach's point. Track and field events (unless I'm forgetting one) are all judged on a strictly objective basis -- time, height, distance, etc. Swimming is like that, too.

But the judging for diving is more akin to gymnastics, in terms of having something of a subjective (or at least "eye of the beholder") element.