Salem International University, located in Salem, West Virginia, is bringing back men’s and women’s swimming as a NCAA Division II varsity sport for the 2016-17 season. The Tigers had a successful program through 2010, with the men’s team finishing in the top ten at NCAAs from 1998 through 1999 and the women finishing in the top 15 from 1998 through 2000, most notably.
Salem International’s history also includes four West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) Championship titles for the men’s program (the last one coming in 2004) and one for the women’s program.
This time around, however, the Tigers will apply to compete in the Bluegrass Mountain Conference, a coach-run, swimming-only conference that includes schools from several different states, who compete in the NCAA Division II, the NCAA Division III, and the NAIA. Queens University of Charlotte has won both the women’s and men’s BMC conference championships in each of the last two seasons.
Salem International will put Aquatics Director and head Water Polo coach Robert Bullion at the helm of the new program, and he will add head coach of men’s and women’s swimming to his title. Bullion said in a press release, “I am excited to expand upon our aquatics programs at the university. Salem International has a prestigious swimming past and I look forward to bringing the program back to its glory in past decades.”
Bullion’s men’s water polo team finished the 2015-16 season with ACWPC (Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches) All-Academic Awards for nine of its players. In addition, its team GPA of 3.65 was the highest in the nation among ACWPC members, according to a press release put out by Salem on February 4.
The Tigers will add men’s and women’s swimming to an athletics lineup that also includes men’s and women’s basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis and track & field, as well as men’s baseball, women’s softball, women’s bowling, and women’s volleyball.