Converse University in Spartanburg, South Carolina has announced the addition of a men’s swimming & diving team. The team will begin competition in the Fall 2022 semester.
“We are thrilled to add men’s swimming as the 20th sport at Converse University, as it will be the only Division II men’s swimming program in South Carolina.” Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Jenn Bell said, “We believe we can build a team that will compete very well within Conference Carolinas. We look forward to seeing this program grow with student-athletes who will help us continue to pursue excellence in the classroom, in the swimming pool and in the community.”
Kira Cullen, who is currently the head coach of the women’s team, will take over the men’s program.
“I am beyond excited to see the investment from this school to start a men’s swimming program,” Converse University head swim coach Kira Cullen said. “The benefits for both the athletes and the school will be overwhelming over the next few years that this legacy will be created. As we look for our strong recruits with the balance of academics, athletics and personal skill the development of the program will help energize the current programs offered.”
Converse University is an NCAA Division II school located in the northern-South Carolina hub of Spartanburg. The school was founded by local residents in 1889 with 168 students, all-female, and was one of the first women’s colleges in the United States.
Prior to the current academic year, the school changed its name from Converse College to Converse University, and leaders announced that they would admit male undergraduates for the first time. The school hoped that this would not only grow the overall student body, but also attract more female students. They cited a study that showed that only 2% of high school graduates would consider a college that was single-gender. The school will maintain the Converse College legacy of a women’s college, but unite it with male undergradautes under the umbrella of Converse University.
The school currently has a total of 1,394 students, though only 747 are undergraduates.
The school has also announced men’s varsity athletics programs in basketball, cross country, soccer, and track & field, and coed teams in eSports, equestrian, and spirit. Some of those programs already began competition this season.
The story of this new program is very similar to that of another new men’s swimming program added last month 90 minutes south at Columbia College. While Columbia College did previously have male students, they only recently announced that they would be allowing male students to live on campus.
The Converse men’s swimming team will be just the third men’s program in the state of South Carolina behind the University of South Carolina and Columbia College. The Valkyries will be the only Division II member in the state and one of just two NCAA teams in South Carolina (Columbia College is an NAIA school).
The Converse University women’s swim team was restarted in 2010 and has produced four All-Americans. Cullen leads an all-female coaching staff for the Valkyries. She is currently in her first season as head coach with the program. In the last full season of competition in 2019-2020, the program finished 5th at the Conference Carolinas Championships.
The team’s most recent All-American, and therefore NCAA placement, came from Jenni Russell in 2014, when she placed 15th in the 200 breaststroke.
The team practices out of a 25-yard, six-lane pool at the Montgomery Student Center. The pool was used in the filming of the 1991 Julia Roberts blockbuster film Sleeping with the Enemy.
Gotta love the 1991 movie nugget. That almost makes up for it being a 6-lane 25yd pool 🙂
Congratulations Converse! Pleased to see additional swim programs created!!!