One of my biggest jobs as a coach here at Carthage is educating parents and swimmers about just how good Division III athletics are and today, the Wall Street Journal sheds some light on this very topic.
The number of Division I men's swim teams and number of Division I men's swimming scholarships has been on the decline in recent years. This is clearly bad for the sport, but its been a boon for Division III schools. When you take a look at the times it takes to qualify for the NCAA Championships, or even our conference finals, you can see that Division III swimming is FAST swimming.
The article goes onto mention a couple of the other benefits of Division III:
The number of Division I men's swim teams and number of Division I men's swimming scholarships has been on the decline in recent years. This is clearly bad for the sport, but its been a boon for Division III schools. When you take a look at the times it takes to qualify for the NCAA Championships, or even our conference finals, you can see that Division III swimming is FAST swimming.
The article goes onto mention a couple of the other benefits of Division III:
- Division III athletes typically receive more in academic scholarships than Division I athletes receive in athletic scholarships;
- D-III teams are increasingly populated with serious students including pre-med majors or engineering students - not majors that can typically be pursued in a big-time athletics program;
- More free time.
