In 1922 UNL established their 1st Men’s Swimming program under coach Luehring.  This first team consisted of four men and did not compete in any sort of college conference, but instead swam against other swimming clubs within Nebraska, such as the Omaha Athletic club.  By 1923 the team had become one of two teams within the Missouri Valley Conference.  As time went on the team grew and moved up the competitive ranks and eventually went on to become a swimming powerhouse under coach Cal Bentz who began coaching the team in 1978.  Under coach Bentz the team won the Big 8 Conference Title in Men’s Swimming 15 years in a row from 1980 to 1996.  During this era the Men’s Swim team contained a number of Olympic Athletes and World Record holders such as Peter Williams from South Africa and Adam Pine from Australia.  In 1997 the Men’s Swimming Team’s winning streak would come to a halt as they entered the Big Twelve Conference where the University of Texas reigned supreme in Men’s Swimming.  Despite this though the UNL Men’s Swim Team stayed at the top of the conference often placing second place at the Big Twelve Championships.  In 2000 the Nebraska Men’s Swim Team was accused of a number of NCAA violations and coach Bentz and his coaching staff were removed from their positions.  As a result of this investigation as well as financial reasons, the University decided to cancel the Men’s Swimming program.

            Ultimately, through this presentation of the history of the UNL Men’s Swim Team one can see the evolution of college sports from small athletic clubs to expensive and highly competitive programs.  More importantly you can see how the cost of some of these sports programs as well as rules such as Title IX ultimately force institutions to cut even successful programs, such as Nebraska’s Men’s Swimming Program.