INTRO
As the team enters the pool at 6:00 AM, there's only one thing on their minds. Is it time for PSACs yet? "We just have to Trust It" says a tall, bulky guy with crazy hair. This, of course, is Sam Feiser, a Senior Captain. "The Process is all about working hard and getting ready for PSACs" sophomore Matt Rocchi explains. "From September to March, we have to outwork everyone else" Head Coach Stu Marvin says, "The guys and girls have to work together to achieve their goals."
TEAMS
The Bloomsburg University Men's and Women's Swimming teams have been around for a while. The men's team began in 1959 with the women joining in 1973. The teams swim for the NCAA in Division II. The current team, (2017-2018) has 42 swimmers on it. 24 are girls and 18 are guys. The season is a series of dual meets (1 on 1) versus other schools in the conference, And it begins with a team bonding experience downtown.
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| Market Street Mile 2017 |
The season this year began, as it has been for the past nine years, with the Market Street Mile. The whole team runs in the mile in support of the track and field team. "It's the least we can do to show support for Bernie" says Marvin, in regards to head Track & Field Coach Bernie Empie. "We've been doing it since 2009, and it's been a lot of fun, I usually bring up the rear carrying the Bloomsburg Swimming Banner" Coach Marvin explains. Some people run the mile competitively, and most of the team just does it for fun. The day ends with the annual team photo in front of the fountain. The next event to look forward to for the team is the trip to Florida.
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| Florida Trip 2018 |
After a couple months of dual meets and an invitational, the team heads to Florida to sort of "start over." The team goes to Fort Lauderdale to train at the International Swimming Hall of Fame. About 15 other teams are generally there, with hundreds of others in the state of Florida. Coach has a connection there, his wife works for the Hall of Fame and he used to run the Aquatic Complex there as well. "It wasn't very hard to get us a spot there" Marvin jokes; "The Hall of Fame will always be home to me and the kids love coming here as well." After a fun-filled ten days, the team returns to Bloom to get back to work preparing for the PSAC meet.
HISTORY/PSAC MEET
The men's team wasn't historically good before Coach Marvin arrived. Except for a few stellar swimmers (including Coach himself), the team was not ever very strong. When Stu Marvin arrived, he knew he was going to have to change the culture. "When I got here I was faster than any of the guys on the team" Marvin explains; "In 2008, I was 52 years old. I think that says enough about the guys on that team." The boys team, affectionately called "The Bums" called themselves "A Drinking Team with a Swimming problem." Coach Marvin wanted to change the norm and bring the team to the top. Although neither team, girls or guys, has ever won 1st place at the Conference Championship meet, the men's team, who was dead last the year before Marvin arrived, has now been 2nd place in four out of the last five years. In his ten years as Head Coach, Marvin has won Coach of the Year honors five times. The women's team, unlike the men's, has been a power traditionally. They have been 2nd place three years in a row. Since coach's arrival, every record on the record board for the men has been broken. As for the women, only four remain. And all of this is because the team just has better swimmers now. The men's team from 2008, with a few exceptions, would not last a week with the team today. "The culture has changed" says Coach Marvin, "And that's all I wanted when I got here."
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| 2017 PSAC Team |
As you can probably see, the team getting second place is a big deal to them, and that has to do with the success of another team. West Chester. West Chester has dominated the league on the men's and women's sides for a long time. "That's the ultimate goal" Coach Marvin says, "To win the first PSAC Championship in school history would be my greatest achievement." The reason that Bloomsburg has not done that is because West Chester's teams are so dominant. The West Chester coach recruits people from foreign countries to come swim for them and that's the difference. The international recruiting has put them over the top. A lot of the foreigners come to the states for the free education, but a lot of them could and should be swimming Division I. "There's nothing really wrong with it, I just don't believe in it" Coach explains.
NATIONALS
The Tuesday following the PSAC Meet, the team sits anxiously at the computer as the selection list is uploaded. Once Coach finds out who made the cut, they get back into the water for two weeks to prep for the biggest meet of their lives. Generally, around 27 people are taken from all of Division II in each event. The last two years, the BU Swim Teams have sent 11 people to the NCAA National Championship Meet. Last year, BU took home 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 8th, and 10th in the nation in the relays they sent. The 200 Freestyle Relay team of Sam Feiser, Kyle Dix, Eric Usbeck, and A.J. Brady was the second fastest in the nation, easily the greatest relay in team history. As for this upcoming year, that relay from the previous year only has one returning member, Sam Feiser. With the graduations of A.J. Brady and Eric Usbeck, as well as the shoulder injury to Kyle Dix, the team has spots to fill. The National Team this year sure will be interesting.
TRUSTING THE PROCESS
The reason the phrase "Trust the Process" is so prevalent is because that's the team's motto. "We have a different team motto every year, and it's always on the team shirt," Coach Marvin tells me. "The team really seems to buy into the motto and I don't think it's a motto, it's a lifestyle. The swim season is so long, and they really need to never give up, never back down."
CONCLUSION
When it all comes down to it, there are a lot of ups and downs. A lot of things change. People get better, people don't. People quit, people make nationals. A long season in the same pool with the same people can get boring, or it can be the most fun you've ever had on a team. From the Market Street Mile to the National Championship Meet, all along, they have to Trust The Process.
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| Nelson Field House Pool |
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