Boston College swimming and diving records

Collection

Identifier: BC-2019-007

Staff Only

Dates

Creation: 1972 - 2017

Scope and Contents

Records for the Boston College men's and women's swimming and diving teams contain awards dinner programs; media guides; newsletters; and results from meets and other statistics; and team management documents. Results and statistics include championship results with school standing and member times; meet locations and pool sizes; scores and times and rankings for back-, breast-, fly-, and freestyle-strokes, as well as relay and diving events; and team rosters. Media guides are seasonal programs published annually at the start of the season and covering coaching and team profiles and rosters, previous season's scores and record-setters, season outlook by event, and schedule.

The records also include photographs of the teams, with headshots for individual members as well as images of meets. Video recordings further capture competitions. Additionally there a few files related to the Boston College water polo team, including results from matches.

Creator

Boston College. Athletics (Organization)

Restrictions on access

Collection is open for research.

Audio and videocassettes, CDs, and DVDs in this collection are not available for playback due to format impermanence and have not been reformatted. Please let Reading Room staff know of your specific interest, if possible, reformatting will be scheduled.

Restrictions on use

These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The original authors may retain copyright to the materials.

Historical note

Boston College established men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams, as well as a water polo team, as club sports in 1972, following the opening of the Flynn Recreation Complex, which included an 8-lane swimming pool. The teams all had strong early seasons. In 1975 the women's swimming and diving team earned varsity status, and the men's team followed in 1978. Water polo became a varsity team in 1986, but reverted to club status in 2002.

The women’s swimming and diving team won thirty-five meets consecutively (1976- 1978), setting the record for the longest winning streak of any Boston College team. They won multiple championship meets over the years, including the BIG EAST, New England, and National Catholic titles. Both the women and the men won the Orange Bowl Classic held in Key Largo in January of 2007, with the men defending that title in 2008.

The founding coach for the three teams was Boston College alumnus Tom Groden, who served as coach of water polo until 1978 and for the swimming and diving teams until his retirement in 2016. Groden was the first NCAA coach to record 300 wins with both men’s and women’s programs at the same institution. Following Groden's retirement, Michael Stephens, a Boston College alumnus and former swim team captain, became head coach of the swimming and diving teams.

Sources:

"About us, Boston College Women's Water Polo." https://bcwomenswaterpolo.weebly.com/

Boston College Athletics. Accessed September 19, 2019. https://bceagles.com/coaches.aspx?rc=533&path=swim.

"History, Boston College Men's Water Polo." http://www.bcmenswaterpolo.com/history.html

“Tom Groden – Boston College Swim Coach 1972-2015,” n.d. https://www2.bc.edu/thomas-groden/13-BIOS/Groden Bio-15.pdf.

Extent

10.25 Linear Feet (12 containers)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Records of the Boston College men's and women’s swimming and diving teams include awards dinner programs, media guides, newsletters, photographs, statistics (meet results and other statistics), and video recordings of competitions. Additionally, there are some files related to the Boston College water polo team.

Arrangement

Arranged into eight series: I. Awards dinner programs; II. Competitions; III. Media guides; IV. Newsletters; V. Photographs; VI. Recordings; VII. Team management; and VIII. Water polo.

Series II. Competitions has two sub-series, A. Programs and schedules and B. Results.

Provenance

Transferred by the Boston College swimming and diving office in 2019.

Related Materials

Boston College athletic photographs, BC.1986.019, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Boston College athletic programs, BC.1997.006, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Doug Flutie collection, BC.2003.009, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

William J. Flynn papers, BC.1997.077, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Nathaniel J. Hasenfus papers, BC.1998.015, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.