One year later: The sports cuts

The Atlantic 10 Championships in February 2010 marked the end of the swimming season for Duquesne, and the permanent end of men's swimming at Duquesne University.A month prior to the Championships, the athletic department announced that the men's swimming, wrestling, baseball and golf teams would be eliminated following the Spring 2010 semester. After the final event at the meet, to honor the soon-to-be-defunct men's team, the entire team was lined up on the bulkhead divider of the pool, bowing as the crowd gave them a standing ovation.

For Eddie LeBlanc, who won six gold medals and was awarded the Most Outstanding Performer award at the meet, there was no better way to go out.

"That was exactly how I wanted to finish it," LeBlanc said. "The real achievement at the end of that meet . was for us to have had [the Outstanding Performer award], for it to belong to Duquesne."

When LeBlanc, a senior, and the rest of the men's team were herded into Athletic Director Greg Amodio's office last January to hear that they would not be swimming next year, the animosity between the team and the athletic department was evident. LeBlanc, however, was less disappointed that his own career was ending and more upset for the younger swimmers.

"The main issue was the fact that there were so many other people who didn't have the same opportunities as us," LeBlanc said.

The swimmers were allowed to keep their athletic scholarships even though they would not be able to swim anymore. That wasn't enough for Hunter Chaisson, who transferred fall semester 2010 to Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis to continue his swimming career. Now a sophomore, Chaisson believes he made the right decision.

"The main reason I went to Duquesne was for swimming," said Chaisson, whose family lives in Boston. "It was far out of the way for me. To go all the way out there and not be part of a team wasn't appealing to me."

While students who decided to stay, like Chaisson's roommate Nick Kovacs, were able to keep their scholarships, students who had committed to swim at Duquesne prior to the announcement weren't as lucky. One of those people was Derek Schilling, the younger brother of now-graduated swimmer Brendan Schilling. Derek had signed his letter of intent, but was told he no longer could get an athletic scholarship once the team's future had been determined.

"As soon as I found out [about the cuts], I called my mom, because I knew the kids who had scholarships who were [at Duquesne already] were fine, but the kids who hadn't gone yet were screwed," Brendan Schilling said. "They had nothing. They started from scratch."

Derek was given a scholarship at his new school, University of the Pacific in Stockton, Cali., but Brendan said the stress of the hectic second college search has soured his family's view of Duquesne.

"There's a joke we have where, every time we see a picture of the Palumbo Center, we say, 'Oh, this is the men's swim team' and point to the new seats," Brendan said.

A representative for the athletic department was unavailable for comment as of press time.

'Life is a revolving door.'

The movement to convince the University to keep the men's swim team began making headlines when George Honchar, the father of swimmer Yurko Honchar, was escorted out of an alumni luncheon he had been invited to in February. George was passing out flyers in support of the men's team when he was asked to leave.

George and the other parents continued to protest Duquesne's decision, and even drew up a plan they believed would properly fund the team for the next several years. The protests culminated in a meeting between President Charles J. Dougherty and three parent representatives of the team on March 26. Dougherty eventually rejected the proposal, and a University statement said the proposal did not meet the University's "feasibility testing standards."

For senior swimmer Erin Sykes, that rejection spelled the end.

"Pretty much when Dougherty said that no matter what we did, he wasn't going to help anymore," said Sykes. "At the end of last year, we knew."

While LeBlanc, a physician assistant major, said he disliked the timing of the announcement, which came right before the conference meets, he has adjusted to and even learned to enjoy the time he now has.

"I haven't swum probably since conferences . You always knew the day was coming where you'd be done swimming," said LeBlanc, who swam competitively for 10 years prior to the cuts.

LeBlanc has also begun the professional phase of his studies, which he says would have limited his ability to practice this year anyway.

Even Yurko Honchar, who helped spearhead the students' protests, has moved on somewhat.

"I guess I still have hard feelings about it," Yurko Honchar said. "But my philosophy is, life is a revolving door, and you always have new opportunities presented to you. That's been my philosophy since June."

'Everything was much more serious.'

Swim practice just isn't the same for Sykes anymore.

The oft-injured senior is happy to be healthy and back in the water this season. A new training regimen implemented by coach David Sheets has made practices more grueling, but the team's speed has benefited greatly. And the coach has more time to focus on a smaller number of swimmers now that the men's team is no longer a part of Duquesne athletics.

But that's where the positives end for her.

"It was definitely sad," Sykes said of the team's first few practices this year. "It was weird. Everything was so much more serious. Our guys were always joking around, having fun. They made everything much more lighthearted."