By Anya Pelshaw on SwimSwam
After originally planning to be on the smaller Biloxi (Tradition) campus, William Carey will move the start of its program to the Hattiesburg (Main) campus.
The move from the Biloxi to the Hattiesburg campus has numerous benefits. The Hattiesburg campus has a more enhanced infrastructure, more majors offered, and the ability to house international recruits. The two campuses are a 53-minute drive and 56.5 miles away from each other.
The originally planned Biloxi campus only has 10 undergraduate majors, compared to the 29 offered at the Hattiesburg campus. Although Coach Gonzalez says that the move to the Biloxi campus “is inevitable,” all of the majors will be honored once the program does make the move.
As far as housing goes, the Biloxi campus currently does not have the infrastructure to house the athletes. Gonzalez told SwimSwam that the state and federal governments have allocated the school $26 million as of January 2024. That money will be going to enhance the Biloxi campus to eventually have the necessary infrastructure. Originally, the athletes would have been living off-campus but now they have the opportunity to live on campus.
Last May, it was announced that William Carey University (WCU) would add swimming and diving to its athletic department. WCU is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and competes in the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC). The SSAC doesn’t sponsor its own swimming & diving championship, but it does partner with the Sun Conference to host the Sun Conference Swimming Championships.
When the addition of the program was announced, the school also announced that Robert Gonzalez would be the program’s first head coach. Gonzalez currently is the head coach of Biloxi Elite Swim Team (BEST).
For the time being, the school will practice at the University of Southern Mississippi, a seven-minute drive from the Main Hattiesburg campus, as well as the local YMCA, which also is a seven-minute drive from campus. Meets will take place at the Biloxi campus. The team still has a few spots available for its first season.
SwimSwam: NAIA William Carey Will Train At Hattiesburg (Main) Campus In Inaugural Season This Fall
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