Just in time for the 2016 Summer Olympics, Oklahoma Christian University (OC) announced its plans to expand the breadth of its popular tagline, “OC is Home” by making itself home to intercollegiate men’s and women’s swim teams.
The addition of the two teams will bump OC’s number of varsity sports teams up to 16. It will also make OC only the third university in Oklahoma to offer intercollegiate swimming as a sport.
Speaking of Olympics—five-time Olympic medalist Josh Davis will serve as coach for the two teams, as announced by the university’s president, Dr. John deSteiguer.
“Competitive swimming is a fantastic fit for OC and our culture of discipline and excellence. Coach Josh Davis is perfect to lead this new program. I’m thrilled about what the future holds!” said deSteiguer.
OC’s Athletic Director, Curtis Janz, said that Coach Davis will be recruiting student athletes for the teams effective immediately. OC plans to compete in the 2017-18 academic year after training a core group of swimmers to be their “first leaders” during the 2016-17 academic year.
New Opportunities
“We can provide an opportunity for prospective student-athletes to have good option to compete at the NCAA Division II level,” said Janz. He also talked about the opportunities it will bring to the university to build its enrollment. “We have good facilities, both of our own and in the area,” he said. OC is gunning to be nationally competitive in this new to them sport.
“Historically, Eagles have never been able to swim,” said OC student Kai Jorgensen, chuckling a bit. “But in all seriousness, OC’s size is simultaneously a good thing and a bad thing. On one hand, the size allows for a really special, tight-knit community. But on the other hand, it is possible that the smaller pool of resources and variety in opportunities could deter some students from coming here. I am really excited to see what sorts of students these teams draw in and how they make an impact on our student body.”
Like Jorgensen, many OC students are excited about the new people the swim teams will bring to the school.
There is a void of competitive swimming programs on the collegiate level, which provided an opportunity for OC. Janz said the decision to offer a swim program came “after careful research and the realization that competitive swimmers had few options after finishing their high school career.”
“I think it’s really cool that we are expanding our horizons as a school,” said Christian Reyes, another OC student. “I think Coach Davis will only add to the magic and wonder of OC’s community.”
Hometown Olympian
The Davis family—Josh, his wife Shantel, and their six children—are current residents of Edmond. Only a small part of his swimming accolades are the Olympic games: in the 1996 Atlanta games, he was the only male in any sport from any nation to win three gold medals, and in the 2000 Sydney games, he was the swim team captain. Other awards include nine-consecutive-time U.S. champion in the 200-meter freestyle, the 400-meter freestyle and the 200-meter backstroke.
Since then, he has stayed closely tied to the swim world, as well as working as a motivational speaker.
With so much experience in the swim world and in life, Coach Davis seems the right fit for a budding, local team.