PEORIA, Ill. - Bradley University will discontinue men's and women's swimming and diving as intercollegiate sports following the 2001-02 academic year, Director of Athletics Ken Kavanagh announced today.

The University finalized the decision today and Kavanagh met with the team members and coaching staff this afternoon to inform them of the decision. Kavanagh also assured the swimming and diving student-athletes that the athletic department will assist any team members who decide to transfer to other institutions and that the University will honor all athletic related scholarship commitments for those team members who elect to continue their academic careers at Bradley.

"Informing our swimmers and coaches certainly rates as one of the darkest moments in my career. I am disappointed, but I felt it was necessary and in the best interests of our department as a whole," said Kavanagh. "Although we hope that all will remain at Bradley, we will certainly do everything we can to assist those individuals who want to transfer so they may continue to compete at the intercollegiate level."

Bradley's 2001-02 swimming and diving season is set to open Sept. 28 with the annual Red-White Intrasquad meet and the first outside competition for both squads will be the Missouri Valley Conference Shootout Oct. 13, which will be hosted by Bradley. By announcing the decision to discontinue the sports before the start of the season, the student-athletes who elect to transfer at the end of the fall semester will be immediately eligible for the spring semester at another institution as long as they do not compete in outside competitions in the interim.

Kavanagh added the elimination of the two programs was based on budgetary issues and the desire to raise the competitive level of the athletic department as a whole.

"The Department of Athletics is currently involved in a three-month strategic planning process and this decision was a by-product of those continuing efforts," said Kavanagh. "Unfortunately, as a private institution with finite resources, we are placed at a competitive disadvantage in certain sports," Kavanagh added. "Our men's and women's swimming and diving teams currently face the greatest disparity with their Missouri Valley Conference rivals given there are no other private schools that sponsor the sport for men and only one for women (Evansville). Combining an aging facility with part-time coaching and a limited budget makes it difficult to remain competitive within the Valley without a massive infusion of new dollars.

"At a minimum, it was estimated that $500,000 in additional annual funding would be necessary to provide even an opportunity to compete for the upper echelon of the MVC. This amount does not even figure in the required upgrades necessary in facility improvements in order to attract and/or retain quality recruits and full-time coaches."

Bradley currently offers two full tuition scholarships for each program, although the NCAA allows 14 full scholarships for women's swimming and diving and 9.9 scholarships for the men. Including the four scholarships, the combined annual operating budget for the two programs annually exceeds $150,000. The current rosters for the two teams include 23 men's student-athletes and 25 women.

Since the Missouri Valley Conference began sponsoring a men's swimming and diving championship in 1994, both the men's and women's squads have finished last in each of the eight years and only the women's team in 1998 (99) has come within 100 points of the next lowest squad in the team standings. The loss of the Bradley programs will drop the number of men's swimming and diving programs in The Valley to four (Evansville, Northern Iowa, SMS and Southern Illinois) and the number of women's programs to five (Illinois State).

The NCAA requires an institution to field 14 teams to maintain Division I status. Bradley will drop to that minimum number at the end of the 2001-02 academic year. The University's other 14 NCAA intercollegiate athletic programs include: baseball, men's basketball, women's basketball, men's cross country, women's cross country, men's golf, women's golf, women's indoor track and field, women's outdoor track and field, men's soccer, softball, men's tennis, women's tennis and women's volleyball.

The men's swimming program dates back to 1946 when the Braves resumed intercollegiate athletics activity following World War II. The women's swimming program is preparing for its 10th season as the program was elevated from club to NCAA status for the 1992-93 season.