TEMPE, Ariz. – Coming off an abbreviated season that included the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Championships and with the double-semester season just a few months away, Arizona State University head swimming & diving coach Bob Bowman announced – after consulting with team and parents – each member of the 2020-21 squad will redshirt and begin focus on the 2021-22 season and Olympic aspirations.
All involved parties agree this plan will allow for maximum flexibility and confidence for the student-athletes and their families in regards to their location and practice situation due to COVID-19. All members of the Sun Devil swimming & diving programs will redshirt and only train in 2020-21, with the expectation the entire roster will return in 2021-22.
"In March, (Vice President for University Athletics) Ray Anderson challenged all Sun Devil head coaches to find ways to make our programs stronger after the COVID-19 crisis," says Bowman, who was the 2016 U.S. Men's Olympic team coach. "This decision clearly accomplishes that goal. It promotes the health and safety of our student-athletes, enhances their educational opportunities and allows time to rebuild and refocus on performing at the highest levels of NCAA competition."
This plan, which can be accomplished within existing scholarship limits, allows the student-athletes to enroll in courses as full-time students across all learning platforms and will allow most to pursue graduate degrees in a five-year window.
"Many of our student-athletes will now have the opportunity to pursue a graduate degree during their additional year on campus," adds Bowman, who has coached nine Pac-12 individual champions in his five years. "This is a tremendous benefit which we are excited to offer to a tremendous team which has great academic goals."
LINKS
--Arizona State swimming teams will redshirt squads in 2021-22 (by Jeff Metcalfe, USA Today Network/July 26, 2020)
--ASU swimming and diving to redshirt entire rosters for 2020-21 season (arizonasports.com/July 26, 2020)
--ASU men's and women's swim and dive teams to redshirt 2020-21 season (ASU State Press/July 26, 2020)
--ASU swimming on espn.com (July 26, 2020)
--Arizona State swimming's solution for coronavirus uncertainty: Redshirt the entire team (by Emily Giambalvo, Washington Post/July 27, 2020)
Added Vice President for University Athletics Ray Anderson, "This unique approach will provide additional opportunities for these student-athletes to pursue educational endeavors. Our goal as a department is to provide an elite student-athlete experience and this methodology will allow an additional year on campus for these student-athletes to train and achieve championship performance together, but also realize new academic goals."
The past four months have not allowed proper training, but under the new plan Bowman knows the shifting of goals to a more realistic timeline is advantageous for NCAA and Olympic championship level athletes.
"With a renewed clarity of purpose, we can shift our focus to long course swimming and preparation for the Olympic qualifying competitions next year," Bowman said. "We know this process will best prepare our team to excel at the highest levels of our sport and will take our program to the next level."
With competition events normally starting in September and finishing in March, a typical swimming/diving competition schedule takes place over seven months. The stress of any cancellations and all team travel is now eliminated and budgets can be adjusted.
"We know this is our best course of action. It gives us clarity, direction and a good plan that our team can benefit as athletes and students, and allows families to feel at ease over being able to watch their Sun Devils at the 2022 NCAA Championships, which was taken away last year," added Bowman. "Our teams and our program are in great shape. It is the summer of 2020 and some additional things have to be considered. We are very confident in this plan and know it is the best interests of our program, our student-athletes and our athletic department. Much thought went into it and we are excited to start working with a firm training calendar."
The past season and program's future is highlighted by Jack Dolan being named the Pac-12 Freshman Swimmer of the Year, just the second in Sun Devil history. Emma Nordin (500 free) and Zach Poti (100 backstroke) each won Pac-12 titles, with Nordin clocking the nation's fastest time in her win. The programs combined for 18 team records last season and senior Silja Kansakoski closed out her career winning the athletic department's Bill Kajikawa Award, presented annually to one male and one female in recognition for his and her demonstrated academic excellence, athletic accomplishment leadership and service in the community.
All involved parties agree this plan will allow for maximum flexibility and confidence for the student-athletes and their families in regards to their location and practice situation due to COVID-19. All members of the Sun Devil swimming & diving programs will redshirt and only train in 2020-21, with the expectation the entire roster will return in 2021-22.
"In March, (Vice President for University Athletics) Ray Anderson challenged all Sun Devil head coaches to find ways to make our programs stronger after the COVID-19 crisis," says Bowman, who was the 2016 U.S. Men's Olympic team coach. "This decision clearly accomplishes that goal. It promotes the health and safety of our student-athletes, enhances their educational opportunities and allows time to rebuild and refocus on performing at the highest levels of NCAA competition."
This plan, which can be accomplished within existing scholarship limits, allows the student-athletes to enroll in courses as full-time students across all learning platforms and will allow most to pursue graduate degrees in a five-year window.
"Many of our student-athletes will now have the opportunity to pursue a graduate degree during their additional year on campus," adds Bowman, who has coached nine Pac-12 individual champions in his five years. "This is a tremendous benefit which we are excited to offer to a tremendous team which has great academic goals."
LINKS
--Arizona State swimming teams will redshirt squads in 2021-22 (by Jeff Metcalfe, USA Today Network/July 26, 2020)
--ASU swimming and diving to redshirt entire rosters for 2020-21 season (arizonasports.com/July 26, 2020)
--ASU men's and women's swim and dive teams to redshirt 2020-21 season (ASU State Press/July 26, 2020)
--ASU swimming on espn.com (July 26, 2020)
--Arizona State swimming's solution for coronavirus uncertainty: Redshirt the entire team (by Emily Giambalvo, Washington Post/July 27, 2020)
ICYMI: A story from last week on @ASUSwimDive taking matters into their own hands. They're redshirting the entire team for the 2020-2021 season and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. #12ports pic.twitter.com/M5e7rdBUbu
— Chierstin Susel (@ChierstinSusel) August 3, 2020
Added Vice President for University Athletics Ray Anderson, "This unique approach will provide additional opportunities for these student-athletes to pursue educational endeavors. Our goal as a department is to provide an elite student-athlete experience and this methodology will allow an additional year on campus for these student-athletes to train and achieve championship performance together, but also realize new academic goals."
The past four months have not allowed proper training, but under the new plan Bowman knows the shifting of goals to a more realistic timeline is advantageous for NCAA and Olympic championship level athletes.
"With a renewed clarity of purpose, we can shift our focus to long course swimming and preparation for the Olympic qualifying competitions next year," Bowman said. "We know this process will best prepare our team to excel at the highest levels of our sport and will take our program to the next level."
With competition events normally starting in September and finishing in March, a typical swimming/diving competition schedule takes place over seven months. The stress of any cancellations and all team travel is now eliminated and budgets can be adjusted.
"We know this is our best course of action. It gives us clarity, direction and a good plan that our team can benefit as athletes and students, and allows families to feel at ease over being able to watch their Sun Devils at the 2022 NCAA Championships, which was taken away last year," added Bowman. "Our teams and our program are in great shape. It is the summer of 2020 and some additional things have to be considered. We are very confident in this plan and know it is the best interests of our program, our student-athletes and our athletic department. Much thought went into it and we are excited to start working with a firm training calendar."
The past season and program's future is highlighted by Jack Dolan being named the Pac-12 Freshman Swimmer of the Year, just the second in Sun Devil history. Emma Nordin (500 free) and Zach Poti (100 backstroke) each won Pac-12 titles, with Nordin clocking the nation's fastest time in her win. The programs combined for 18 team records last season and senior Silja Kansakoski closed out her career winning the athletic department's Bill Kajikawa Award, presented annually to one male and one female in recognition for his and her demonstrated academic excellence, athletic accomplishment leadership and service in the community.