The University of Sioux Falls and Augustana University are adding women’s swimming and diving teams.
High school senior Bekah Honner suddenly has lots of choices to consider as she starts her application process to swim on a college team.
“It is definitely a possibility staying in state since now Augustana and USF are starting teams, but I still have to weight my options,” says Honner.
Honner is a member of snow fox swimming club in Sioux Falls. She says it’s exciting to see the sport gaining attention.
“Especially with the Olympics coming up in 2016 you see a lot of people show more interest in swimming and who want to try it,” says Honner.
Honner is one of 45 high schoolers in the swimming club. Head coach Clyde Smith says with three schools joining the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, having a seven league team provides opportunities for women athletes.
“I think college swimming in South Dakota offers kids a whole other atmosphere as far as what swimming can be. I think in South Dakota at times we can lose the aspect of it being more about the team and not about yourself and I think that’s an awesome addition to the sporting life of some of these kids that only swim” says Smith.
Augustana and USF have hired coaches and are now recruiting swimmers to build teams.