WaPo Makes Rare MSM Admission on Harm of Title IX

Though you would have to fight all the way to the 19th paragraph of a Washington Post story by Amy Shipley on how boys and young men are outnumbered by females in American swimming, you would eventually find this rare admission about how Title IX has harmed the sport and depressed the number of male participants:

There is also the matter of opportunity: Universities across the country have eliminated more than six dozen men’s swimming programs in the last two decades, according to Phil Whitten, the director of the College Swimming Coaches Association of America. Most schools made the cuts to adhere to Title IX, the federal law that guarantees equal participation opportunities for male and female students. The perception that there are few opportunities for college scholarships could deter talented male athletes, some swimming experts say.

I guess I should stand up and cheer, unfortunately, one of the reasons that supposedly has depressed male participation that made its way into the story above Title IX was the skimpy suits swimmers are forced to wear.

After reading Shipley’s article, I did a little math. She quotes the College Swimming Coaches Association as saying that more than 6 dozen programs have been canceled outright thanks to Title IX. I took a look at the Web site for Auburn University’s Men’s Swim Team. They have 22 swimmers on their roster.

Multiply 22 by 72 (a low-end estimate), and that means that there are almost 1,600 fewer roster spots available at the college level in swimming than there were two decades ago. Without those competitive examples available, why in the world would young men, especially competitive young men, stick with swimming knowing that they would probably be unable to continue to compete as collegians?