Three freshmen on the Syracuse swimming and diving team opted to pursue their passion, knowing that their collegiate careers will come to an end shortly after they began.

With Syracuse set to disband its swimming and diving program after next season, swimmers Chad Flanick and Brian Malloy, as well as diver Nick Mancini, are looking to reach their maximum potential with the end looming.

SU’s focus has shifted from how the team does to how individuals do because the team is too small to remain competitive. For the three freshmen, this means the end goal is different than it used to be.

‘The outlook we had coming was we were here to swim and to train hard, and to make Big East and score at Big East,’ four-year veteran Ryan Corcoran said. ‘Their outlook is to get as good as they can. They’re here to work hard and get better. It’s not something they’re going to be able to do for four years, so it’s just something they’re doing for fun.’

SU head coach Lou Walker has adapted the program to better fit its circumstances. Particularly for the newcomers, he is focusing on ‘providing a competitive opportunity,’ instead of setting his eye on team championships.

‘We’re here, we’ve got space, if they want to do it, they’re more than welcome to,’ Walker said.

His ‘why-not’ attitude toward new additions has rubbed off on his swimmers who are constantly looking to make the best of their situation.

‘Does (phasing out the program) change the fact that you can excel? No,’ Walker said. ‘The planning, the work into the training program, all that is exactly the same, but you can’t go in and say we’re going to go down and our goal is to win the Bucknell Invitational. Why can’t you do that? Well, we haven’t had a recruited kid since 2007.’

Since this year’s freshmen are all walk-ons, their college selection process was different than the older swimmers. They chose Syracuse for its academic merits first, and the chance to swim second, whereas the later group was recruited specifically to swim.

They view the situation as an opportunity to be active, get one-on-one time with the coach and have more time in the pool.

‘I mostly picked it for the engineering school,’ Flanick said. ‘I talked to (assistant coach Ellie Walker) and then picked it because I could also swim here.’

Some of the new athletes didn’t even talk to a coach before coming to Syracuse. Some sought it out once they arrived, much like any of the other student clubs or organizations.

‘Whether it’s The Daily Orange or the marching band or a plethora of activities on campus, kids swam in high school and they’ll wander by the pool,’ Walker said. ‘If it’s something they’re interested in, they think they can do the schedule and so on, then they have that opportunity.’

Swimming at SU is different than many other Division I programs, because athletes are able compete at a top level but receive more focused coaching and have less pressure. Freshmen will on occasion practice separately from the rest of the team, or are broken up among the older swimmers by skill level.

‘You get a lot more swimming time or personal coaching,’ Flanick said. ‘You swim a lot more events in your meets.’

Flanick himself has added the 200-meter breaststroke and the 500-meter freestyle, expanding his repertoire past the middle distances, which he swam in high school.

Regardless of the skill level at which they entered the program, the freshmen are certainly enhancing the team.

‘It’s a tough situation they’re in,’ Corcoran said. ‘I don’t know if I could motivate myself to come to practice voluntarily if I were in their situation.’

Now they have sustained their work ethic until the end of the program in a year and a half.

And then?

Said Flanick: ‘I wanted to try club lacrosse.’

alguggen@syr.edu