By Stephen Parsons
Last spring, Daytona State College’s men and women swim teams walked away from NJCAA Championships in South Florida with a proud second place trophy, but the time to restock the talented group is at hand.
Head Swimming and Diving Coach Don Gibb is currently faced with the task of recruiting a team worthy of a national title. In the short time following his installment at the new coach, Gibb managed a team last year that was full of turbulent history. What’s more, he led them to a successful championship finish. Last fall’s familiar sophomore faces were joined by a large, gifted freshman class. Gibb came to Daytona State with experience and the purpose of returning to the roots where he first began his collegiate career.
His succession came on the heels of the departure of Steve Lochte, the often controversial and outspoken coach and father of Olympic swimming sensation Ryan Lochte, who won gold this summer in London. Lochte and his daughter, Kristin, who was assistant swimming coach, were reassigned from their position in December 2010 after a series of events, including the elder Lochte being arrest on suspicion of DUI. They subsequently resigned from the College.
“Having coached at Florida, Florida State, South Carolina, and Kentucky, I have a unique insight into what it takes to be successful at the next level. Those experiences are an integral of our daily and season plans,” says Gibb.
This summer he’s been searching for high school and transfer students with exceptional rankings to be successful in his program, but with a new year comes new rules. 2011-2012 held huge potential with a roster full of academic and athletic ability hailing from across the nation and internationally. As months of grueling practices and classroom requirements took their toll, however, some of the most prized recruits failed to withstand the pressure of college.
Coach Gibb holds his team to high standards saying, “Our students are required to attend study hall for 10 hours per week as well as maintain a satisfactory grade point average throughout the season. Those who fall below that benchmark are denied the opportunity to compete.”
Despite losing swimmers of crucial status, the swim team prepared for their biggest meet yet at Fort Pierce where Indian River State College would once again claim the national title for the thirty-eighth time.
One rule change by the NJCAA is only three international students per gender will be allowed to compete for a team and the current roster is composed of swimmers from far and wide as Colombia, Sweden, Greece and the Caribbean. Luckily for the Falcons, most of the international students hold dual citizenship so they are eligible to compete. Teams with substantial amounts of international swimmers such as archrival, Indian River, will be significantly hurt by the rule change.
“Many international students have been exposed to professional competition prior to their initial enrollment in an American college and therefore have an advantage over the typical incoming freshman at 17-18 years of age,” Gibb says.
Gibb is having the biggest issue with his recruiting process because of the gender equity law known as Title 9. If Gibb is unable to assemble the necessary percentage of the female roster then he will not be able to have the full male squad needed to take nationals by storm.
“By rule and by law, our athletic student body should be a reflection of our overall student body. Currently, Daytona State has 61 percent women and 39 percent men. This should also be the makeup of our overall athletic population,” he says.
Samantha Akoubian, a departing sophomore, is a breathing testimony to the accomplishment of the two-year program.
“I have grown as a student athlete. DSC provides student athletes with a lot of great opportunities when it comes to academics and athletics that really make them feel as if they are participating in a Division I atmosphere,” she says.
She departs from Daytona to continue her education and swimming career at the next level, but she gives veteran advice for the new year:
“I would say to try your hardest both athletically and academically. It is a student’s first two years of college that put them on a path for the rest of their academic career, so give it everything you have to ensure success, no regrets.”
As he says good bye to one, Gibb must recruit next year’s swim team. This month is when the new recruits will be able to show their talent. No matter what, Gibb feels confident in his coaching ability and Daytona State’s support in athletics. In regard to any college Gibb has coached at he knows that, “In the end, it is all about growing up and making more good decisions than bad and we trust that our team will encourage those behaviors.”