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Message
re: LSU Swimming...Is this the worst performing sport for LSU currently?
Posted on 2/21/21 at 10:10 am to Miketheseventh
Posted on 2/21/21 at 10:10 am to Miketheseventh
The Nat was built quick n dirty for the Olympic sports fest, which was a consolation prize for the athletes that just missed making the Olympics in 1984. It was built with zero foresight, some say to be torn down afterwards, but being that The Huey was the best thing LSU had at the time, they kept the Nat. Any money they’ve spent there through the years was barely putting lipstick on a pig... and they grossly overpaid for what they got nevertheless.
Interestingly in the 1980s the Nat wasn’t too bad compared to what some others in the SEC had. One could argue that the only SEC championship in 1988 came from a boost of the program from the facility upgrade.
We had lockers in a utility closet by the diving well. The bottom of my locker was rusted out and there was a family of rats that lived underneath our row of lockers. Not an appealing place for an aspiring LSU athlete.
Interestingly in the 1980s the Nat wasn’t too bad compared to what some others in the SEC had. One could argue that the only SEC championship in 1988 came from a boost of the program from the facility upgrade.
We had lockers in a utility closet by the diving well. The bottom of my locker was rusted out and there was a family of rats that lived underneath our row of lockers. Not an appealing place for an aspiring LSU athlete.
This post was edited on 2/21/21 at 10:11 am
2
Posted on 2/21/21 at 10:48 am to RingLeader
quote:
We had lockers in a utility closet by the diving well. The bottom of my locker was rusted out and there was a family of rats that lived underneath our row of lockers. Not an appealing place for an aspiring LSU athlete.
Funny! Once they built the expanded locker room off the side that was the warmest place during the winter, I remember one winter they found a dead rat in the rusted bottom of one, must have come in during a cold day trying to get warm haha.
I think it’s interesting that we all see problems within Louisiana swimming from different lenses. I think for a true turn around it will take alignment from high school, club, and college. Not impossible, but you have to get a lot of people acting selflessly and moving in the same direction. Since a lot of that are government people I am not too hopeful. I would caution parents of current swimmers from thinking that these problems go away with making a coaching change. Since most parents didn’t grow up in the sport they may not see that these are problems that have persisted for decades. The root of these issues are much much deeper than one coach, one organization, or one facility. Likely the only way forward right now to truly change things would be to get Woodward on board with demanding excellence from swimming and giving them resources to do so.
This post was edited on 2/21/21 at 10:50 am
Posted on 2/22/21 at 1:06 pm to RingLeader
quote:
The Nat was built quick n dirty for the Olympic sports fest, which was a consolation prize for the athletes that just missed making the Olympics in 1984. It was built with zero foresight, some say to be torn down afterwards, but being that The Huey was the best thing LSU had at the time, they kept the Nat. Any money they’ve spent there through the years was barely putting lipstick on a pig... and they grossly overpaid for what they got nevertheless.
Interestingly in the 1980s the Nat wasn’t too bad compared to what some others in the SEC had.
The USOC's Olympic Festival program was actually started in 1978, and it wasn't a "consolation prize" for people who didn't make the Olympic team. It was supposed to be a response to similar programs that were run in East Germany and the Soviet Union.
Cities bid fiercely to host the Olympic Festivals. Baton Rouge was ecstatic. LSU athletic director Carl Maddox built EVERYTHING on the cheap at that time, so he didn't know the difference. But I was working there then and Maddox was proud of the Natatorium, thought it was state of the art and expected it to be around for decades, like the Field House.
Maybe I'm wrong, but all we're talking about here are a couple of swimming pools, a diving pool and two real nice locker rooms. That can't be that expensive to build.
LSU needs to upgrade.
This post was edited on 2/22/21 at 1:07 pm
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