Marquette University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is adding women’s swimming as its 17th varsity sport, vice president and director of athletics Mike Broeker announced Wednesday afternoon.
The new program is scheduled to begin competition as early as the 2025-2026 season and was presented by the department during the Securing Our Future process to improve gender equity. This marks the first new varsity sport since 2013 when both lacrosse programs were added in 2013.
“Marquette Athletics is uniquely positioned to offer women’s swimming student-athletes a transformative experience, combining quality training and competition with a proven history of academic achievement for our student-athletes,” Broeker said in a release.
“Adding women’s swimming will improve gender equity in athletics and provide a revenue generation opportunity for the university, while offering a competitive Division I experience for our student-athletes. It’s a win-win for our department and university.”
The team will train and compete in the Wellness + Helfaer Recreation facility, which was just renovated and reopened this past January. It features a six-lane, 25-yard pool, seating for about 150 spectators, a team locker room and an office for the two-member coaching staff.
The women’s swimming season runs from mid-September through early March, ending with the league championship meet at a neutral site in late February and the NCAA Championships in late March. The program will compete in the Big East Conference Championships, along with fellow league members Butler, UConn, Georgetown, Providence, Seton Hall, Villanova and Xavier.
The roster will feature as many as 30 student-athletes, with a minimum of 18 athletes to compete for the conference title at the Big East Championships. Over 20 programs are located in the Midwest, such as Wisconsin, Green Bay and Milwaukee.
The university has no plans to add or terminate any other sports at Marquette, and a national search for a women’s swimming head coach will begin immediately.
This article was written by Kaylynn Wright. She can be reached at kaylynn.wright@marquette.edu or on Twitter/X @KaylynnWrightMU.