Swimming & Diving Head Coach John Young on Why Give, Why Now

Can you share an example of one or two ways philanthropic support has made your program stronger recently?
Our program has long relied on philanthropic support to subsidize the costs of our annual Florida training camp. We are abundantly grateful for the support that enables each generation of our team to have this core experience. More recently, incredible generosity from our community has us positioned to expand and upgrade the teams' locker rooms, including the addition of a proper team room. The new space will be more comfortable for our scholar-athletes and more inviting to prospective students.

Team trips and locker rooms are signature initiatives, but I think it's worth noting that fundraised dollars also help us to simply operate "better." All gifts help us afford hotels with better breakfasts, outfit the team with more higher quality gear and add and upgrade technology and training equipment.

What are some key ways you see your program advancing in the next 1, 2, 5 years?

Swimming has been such an important community for our family since our kids were small, and they knew they wanted to swim competitively in college while getting an excellent education. Coach Young is really understanding of the balance between athletics and academics and takes the entire student athlete into account. Tier 2 sports are comparatively underfunded, and we've chosen to give in ways that support the program our kids are actively benefiting from. Davidson does a great job of communicating their needs, and we intend to continue helping this program grow for years to come.
~ Parents Dr. Ross and Dr. Sarah Younger (Griffin '20 and Delaney '25)

In each of those time horizons, my first priority is to continue enabling a community that cares for one another, takes pride in representing Davidson College and achieves at a high level everywhere. In the last five years, we've seen teams and team members graduate with first-honors (valedictorian) three times, be recognized with an assortment of departmental honors on campus, earn A-10 Performer-of-the-Year honors three times and Rookie-of-the-Year honors twice, win A-10 Championships in individual and relay events, break Davidson and A-10 records, post top-10 GPAs among DI Swimming and Diving Programs and win alumni service awards on our campus. I hope we continue to do all of these things, so job one is supporting the astounding performance potential that our scholar-athletes bring to campus by offering programming and resources that nurture their growth and enable their improvement.

We are poised to add a full-time coach, and that staff expansion will add reach to our recruiting efforts, which is where all these accomplishments begin. As we continue to identify and attract scholar-athletes who have an appetite for leadership roles — both by performing in the pool and seeking responsibility on campus — I expect the swimming and diving team will continue to make Davidson a better place.

What do you see in our scholar-athletes every day that makes an investment in them worthwhile?
Our scholar-athletes aspire and imagine and apply themselves in the most remarkable and admirable ways. They are spectacular and limitless and deserve all the support we can give them. Their potential — to be more than athletes, to be leaders — motivates me every day. We are in the business of eliminating obstacles and bottlenecks on the journey that is the pursuit of their aspirations, and they are worth investment because the lessons they learn on that journey will help them make not only their communities, but also the world, better places.

What are you most excited about when you think about the future of your program?
I'm most excited about the superstars I haven't met yet and the ways they will build upon the success of this current generation of Davidson swimmers and divers who are building on the successes of recently graduated swimmers and divers.

Selfishly, having been around for a few seasons, I especially look forward to seeing the alums at the team's home meets and at my home. Those moments evidence the notion that teammates remain teammates, with a love for each other and for Davidson. I have come to be as grateful for those moments as I am for the event wins and good times. Not every team enjoys community the way we do.(But make no mistake, I am excited about good times, too!)

"Athletics Done Right:" What does that mean to you?

For our program, that tagline is reflective of our cognizance that swimming and diving is not the most important priority for our scholar-athletes on any given day. Our country is unique in the way athletics is coupled with higher education. In my opinion, at its best, college athletics is a beautiful system that recognizes the many important lessons — in leadership and discipline and social dynamics and process and delayed gratification — that are learned in pools and on courts and fields. It is a framework where athletics enriches the student experience offered by a college. I believe supporting scholar-athletes as they manage many aspirations and priorities, as they learn and grow in many areas and as they discover their many talents, is the epitome of "Athletics Done Right."

You can make a gift, supporting any of our 21 Division I programs, at this link.

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