UPDATED: Oct. 6, 2017 at 5:34 p.m.

Four years ago, Joe Amedro remembers only four people came to Syracuse club swim team practices. The captains would cancel and the swimmers would walk home.

“There was the same lack of people and the same lack of work ethic,” Amedro said, “so people didn’t take it seriously.”

Syracuse had a men’s varsity swimming team since 1915 and women’s since 1976. Two women’s swimmers — Liz Vilbert (1981) and Elyse McDonough (2004) — have qualified for the NCAA women’s swimming championships. The men’s team won the Big East in 1996.

In 2007, the university announced it would drop both due to financial concerns and Title IX. And, when Amedro attended club tryouts four years ago, captains did not interact with team members unless they were friends. Fewer than 10 swimmers showed up to practice regularly.

But this fall with organized captains, the team is thriving once again, having sent several swimmers to the 2017 Collegiate Club Swimming & Diving National Championships in Atlanta. The team has about 30 members, mainly upperclassmen.

The captains are now focused on bringing teams to organized meets and traveling across the country. When Amedro joined in 2013 as a freshman, SU swam in one meet the entire season and rarely practiced, he said. Now, the team has three practices per week, on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday nights at Archbold Gymnasium.

Two years ago, Syracuse swam in about six meets. Last season, SU swam in eight, including nationals, where captain Bobby Spichiger finished seventh out of 100 competitors in the 200-yard individual medley. SU’s improvement has coincided with increased organization.

“We have to register the team, submit a roster, budget requests, facility requests, pool times, all requirements and pool times,” junior captain Johnny Dunlap said. “It’s very easy to get buried with school. Keeping on top of that is important.”

Within the last two years, the Syracuse club team formed an offshoot nationals team, a more competitive piece of the team with more intense and frequent practices for the better swimmers. This worked “tremendously” for the swim team, Dunlap said.

“It was a nice outlet to keep on some of the more dedicated swimmers to keep improving,” he added.

Now, with Amedro graduated and moving on to a coaching position, Syracuse will attempt to build on the growth that its former captain started.

“I think they (the captains) are really doing an awesome job,” Amedro said, “and I think there’s going to be more recognition for SU swim. People are going to realize it’s a team.”

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, the end date for the men’s and women’s varsity swim teams was misstated. The programs ended after the 2010-11 season. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on October 5, 2017 at 8:14 pm

Contact Patrick: pagunn@syr.edu