Loss of swimming, diving scholarships causes community-wide shock

“It’s back.”

In February 2011, Boston University diver Bailey O’Brien heard the phrase cancer patients fear above all others. Her disease had returned.

Diagnosed with melanoma during her first semester at BU in 2007, O’Brien thought she was in the clear after undergoing two surgeries and a month’s worth of radiation treatments to start her senior year. However, she heard the worst when doctors told her the skin cancer had escalated to stage IV metastatic melanoma.

On the day of the America East Championships, a bed-ridden O’Brien received a Skype call diving coach Agnes Gerlach-Miller made from the pool deck, and found a breathtaking scene.

Every single person in the pool, on the deck and in the stands held hands and raised them, a symbol showing her she was not alone in her fight. Following the moment of recognition, donation boxes from O’Brien’s own team, BU Athletics and other teams, made their way around the bleachers, raising money for her cause.

“In more than one way, BU swimming and diving and BU Athletics were extremely supportive of me,” said O’Brien, a 2012 graduate of the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. “So it’s really heartbreaking to hear that funding is getting cut from swimming and diving, because the team that helped me through the hardest time of my life might not make it.”

BU is eliminating all future scholarships for the men’s swimming and diving team and 71 percent of scholarships for the women’s swimming and diving team, BU Athletics confirmed Monday. BU Athletics spokesperson Brian Kelley said the decision was an institutional one that came from BU as a whole, rather than just the Athletics Department.

Kelley said there are no plans for the swimming and diving programs to be cut as a whole. In addition, any previously promised scholarships will not be taken away from current or incoming swimmers and divers.

Several members of the men’s team, however, said that the scholarship elimination will have severe effects for current team members, coaches and students looking to join in the future.

Adam Gross, a sophomore diver in the College of General Studies, said the decision to cut all of the team’s scholarships was shocking news.

“The team so far this year has been undefeated, and we have one of the highest cumulative GPAs in the university,” Gross said. “So it is a little bit of a surprise, them cutting [9.9] scholarships. That’s a lot for them to cut all at once.”

Gross said the news makes him feel even more underappreciated, as he feels that divers already often experience this as athletes. He said the nature and popularity of the sport could be factors that contributed to the decision.

“[People] want all of the aggressive sports, and the thing about gymnastics and diving is that they are not aggressive, they are just more about grace,” Gross said. “But since we don’t have a varsity gymnastics program, I guess the next lowest sport on the totem poll would be swimming and diving.”

Many within the swimming and diving community said they fear the same fate which befell the BU wrestling team, a program whose varsity-level competition was ceased by BU Athletics following the 2013-14 season.

“I have respect for [BU Athletics], but they did the same actions when they cut the wrestling program,” said Austin Kruger, a former captain of the men’s diving team and a senior in the Questrom School of Business. “First, they say it’s to save money. Then, they say the program isn’t competitive because they can’t recruit. And then, they say they’re cutting the program and won’t answer any questions. … It’s not exactly new, which is why it’s raising so many red flags.”

Richard Waterhouse, a junior swimmer in the College of Arts and Sciences, said the decision to cut scholarships could have been handled better.

“Many people asked, ‘Why not spread it out between other teams?” he said.

The cuts will affect the ability to build a future team, Waterhouse said.

“Now with the level that our team has gotten to through recruiting, in order for us to stay at that level or to even improve from that level is to get high-level swimmers who will also be offered scholarships at other schools,” said Waterhouse. “So now in order for them to come to us, we need to really sell the university and even if they do love the university, the money is the biggest question.”

Nikki Bookwalter, a swimmer on the women’s team and a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said that her team will also be affected from having its scholarships decreased from 14 to 4.1.

“The team will probably struggle to keep the same standing in the Patriot League and remain at the same level of competition,” Bookwalter said. “I think that makes this upcoming season even more important.”

Through two meets in the 2015-16 season, the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams are both undefeated. In their latest matchup against Bucknell University, the Terriers won 26 of 32 races, which moved the women’s team into the CollegeSwimming.com Division I Top-50 list.

While the scholarship cuts represent an uphill battle, O’Brien remains confident in her former team, citing her own experience as inspiration.

“It’s not a movement in a positive direction,” O’Brien said. “… But that doesn’t mean we can’t change their mind. If they do have the intention to cut it later on and they’re not saying anything about it now, there’s certainly hope. There’s never a hopeless situation I’ve experienced personally so regardless of what their intentions are, it doesn’t mean that the program is going to end.”