Months of training down the drain of the Ray Padovan Pool. This was almost the reality of the Eastern women’s swim team this fall.

October was a long month for the women’s team, as they faced the worry of not having a season.

Up until November, the team was facing issues of ineligibility, which created a road of frustration for its members.

The team needed 11 eligible members for their meets to count. The team originally had 12, but two girls were ineligible due to lack of credits and one red-shirted, which left nine, according to senior swimmer Sofia Pappanastos.

“Everyone overall was impacted by the problem,” Pappanastos said. “We were all worried we wouldn’t have enough people to compete or fill our roster. We got lucky, though, and the NCAA made exceptions for us.”

The exceptions Pappanastos is referring to are credit waivers that can be filled out and submitted to the NCAA.

Also, Pappanastos said the eligibility problem affected a lot of the member’s motivation because they did not know if they were working towards achieving a goal, or just going through the motions at practice.

Head coach Matt Bos said there is not a lot that can be done about eligibility issues. “Everybody has problems,” Bos said. “We always come across road bumps.”

While Bos said he is pleased with team’s performance this year, some team members were not feeling all that confident.

Sophomore swimmer Rebecca Ruffin faced the ineligibility issues head on.

Coming to Eastern, Ruffin was a few credits short.

“It was really frustrating,” Ruffin said. “I didn’t know if I would be cleared and it was just a long process to get the waivers from the NCAA.”

The team’s graduate assistant Elliott McGill said there were no long-term effects, and that the women’s team got through that hiccup as well as he could have hoped for, and that he is content with the results.

Although the problems with ineligibility affected the women’s swim team, the men’s team had a sense of the problem as well.?

Sophomore swimmer Mike Lehman said that as a co-ed team, they are always training together.

“The distraction affected all of us, but we stuck together and managed to pull through,” Lehman said.

Lehman said he could sense the women’s frustration, but the coaches did a good job of handling the stress, and he said he is pleased that everything has worked out for the best.

Senior swimmer Megan Eshleman said she and the other seniors had meetings to set up a game plan for the problem. As team leaders, Eshleman said they decided that it was their job to keep the other members in good spirits.

Pappanastos said she and Eshleman, along with women’s captain Alyssa Lehman talked directly to Bos.

“We tried not to sugar coat anything, especially because Bos asked us to help recruit members in case the problem worsened,” Pappanastos said.

Since the NCAA let their waivers pass, the swimmers were eligible to compete again, so recruiting was not something the women had to tackle in the end.

Eshleman and Pappanastos said their coach always had a solution and always stayed positive.

“He would have added more meets to our season if he had to,” Eshleman said. “To make sure our season counted for something.”

“Staying positive for the rest of the team brought us closer together,” Pappanastos said.

Eastern Athletic Director Barbara Burke said eligibility is not an issue the school faces often, but it is not surprising when it does.

“The NCAA’s policies are very strict and all college(s) must follow them,” Burke said.

Burke said ineligibility issues cannot always be avoided. She said she often refers students to the Eastern athletic website, where it spells out exactly what a student needs to do to be eligible for competition.

According to the website, student athletes must complete 20 percent of their degree each year, have a 2.0 grade point average, pass six degree credit hours per semester and declare a major by their fifth semester or term.

Burke said she and the rest of the athletic staff continues to monitor their teams and do their best to avoid these problems.

The swim team is no longer facing eligibility issues, and it is something that the members are happy about.

“Now that it’s over with, we can focus on swimming and making the most of our season,” Pappanastos said.

With the eligibility issues behind them, the team continues to practice normally at Padovan Pool, and will compete through February.

Meredith Mueller can be reached at 581-7944 or at mlmueller@eiu.edu.

Mary Lacine, a freshman individual medley swimmer, swims the backstroke Oct. 24 at Padovan Pool during their meet against Ball State. (Danny Damiani

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