Julie Kendall
I was an athlete once
The College of Wooster swim team is undergoing an investigation by the NCAA for allegedly maintaining a lucrative bounty system, in which athletes would receive cash rewards for injuring competitors with the intent to take them out of the race.
According to anonymous sources, Scot swimmers would earn anywhere from $20-$40 in cash for successfully eliminating an opponent from a race. A larger sum was awarded to individuals who could sabotage a relay, which is worth more points toward a meet’s final results, and the amount was increased during higher-stakes championship competitions. The bounty fund, allegedly established back in the 30s at a time of particular economic hardship for student athletes, was being financed through surreptitious donations by swimmers, coaches and even Wooster alumni. It is estimated the fund, at its greatest point during the 2002 season, totaled as much as $76.99.
Although swimming is not typically considered a contact sport, these college athletes, motivated by the prospect of immense riches, have proven to be innovative in finding ways to devastate their competitors using physical harm. Some methods were carried out indirectly, such as by encouraging their opponents to eat a generous meal less than an hour before the start of the match, inevitably causing stomach cramps. Less subtly, Scot swimmers have been known to apply Crisco to their rivals’ goggle lenses to obscure their vision, or tainting the pool water of Timken Natatorium with high doses of chemicals to which the Scots have developed an immunity while training in the decrepit facility.
The investigation came after a suspicious NCAA official noticed the unusually high rate of injuries occurring in meets against the Scots over the past 80 years, and one referee came forward with a written testimony regarding an incident he witnessed back in 1998, which involved thumb tacks being strategically placed on the starting blocks assigned to Wittenberg University’s swimmers, followed by an exchange of cash. Head Coach Rob Harrington denies having been involved in granting bounty payments to team members, but investigators say it is unlikely he was oblivious to the goings-on.
The Scots have enjoyed success in their past few seasons, but one swimmer, speaking to the Vice on conditions of anonymity, explained that they did not perform acts of sabotage simply in order to win competitions. “It’s safe to say many of us participated for the money. I mean, 20 bucks goes a long way towards funding our post-meet ragers.”
The NCAA has issued similar investigations for all college athletic teams after it was revealed last month that the NFL’s New Orleans Saints had been rewarding players for knocking their opponents out of the game. While no college football teams have been implicated, several schools’ cross country, golf, rowing, gymnastics and bowling teams have come forward with reports of their own bounty systems.