By Colleen McGinness
Collegian Reporter

Although originally scheduled to host the GLIAC men’s and women’s swimming and diving championships this February, Hillsdale had to forfeit due to substandard equipment. The facility’s diving boards, as well as touch pads, do not meet the NCAA’s new specifications.

As part of a rotation schedule, Hillsdale switched years with Grand Valley State University, which was scheduled to host the GLIAC Championships in 2004. Instead, next semester's tournament will be at Grand Valley, and Hillsdale is planning on hosting the 2004 tournament.

Although Hillsdale’s athletic department would like to host the championship, they are confronted with a lack of funding to fix the pool’s problem areas. The department recognizes its deficiencies and is working hard to acquire the proper funding.

Another problem for the swimming program is Hillsdale’s lack of a diving team. It’s been several years since the program has had a diving team, which athletic director Mike Kovalchik attributes mostly to the status of the diving boards.

“The boards are duraflex instead of maxiflex,” men and women’s swimming coach Mary Anne Gerzanick said. “They’re basically malfunctioning because they’re too old.”

The problem is not that Hillsdale’s swimming facilities are unsafe, but rather that the college has simply fallen behind in terms of meeting the NCAA’s changing guidelines. Once funding is found, the swimming program can move ahead again.

“In my opinion, we have a very nice facility,” Kovalchik said. “It’s 15 years old, but I can assure that it is and will be properly maintained.
“Like any facility, there are times when equipment has a tendency to decline, and sometimes the timing is not very good.”

The question of reinstating the diving team once the boards are restored is still being decided.

“I think we’ll look to bring diving into the program,” Kovalchik said. “It’s [diving] an important part of recruiting, and maybe in past years hasn’t been as important. But it’s certainly something coach Gerzanick would like to pursue.”

As one of the only programs out of the eight participating schools in the GLIAC without a diving team, the Chargers often lose points when they have to forfeit the diving section of their swim meets.

“It is challenging to win meets when we must forfeit points because we lack a diving team,” junior swimmer Betsy Foster said.

Although disappointed her team and program will not be able to host the championships this year, Gerzanick is most concerned about the quality of her facility.

“Whenever you host a tournament of any nature, it always

helps expose the college in terms
of recruiting,” Gerzanick said. “We have a beautiful facility and campus, and it’s always nice to show what we have to offer.

“Everyone wants to host, but we need to make sure it’s done properly.”

Hillsdale hosted the championship tournament in 1998, and members of the athletic department are excited to host it again. The department fully expects to raise enough money to pay for the repairs so they can host the championships in 2004.

“There is no question we’ll host the GLIAC tournament next year,” Kovalchik said. “1998 [championships] was a great meet; we had a nice venue.”

The athletic department and swimming program are working hard to fix the current problems and acquire equipment that meets NCAA standards.

“Our equipment is still functional,” Kovalchik said. “But when you host a championship, you want everything right.”