Exactly nine months after Chancellor Miller announced the program would not be cut, the UNC Wilmington Men’s Swim and Dive team stood on the podium as CAA Champions once more.

The conference championship came down to the final team relay with UNCW pitted against their CAA rival, William and Mary.  After multiple lead changes throughout the competition, UNCW won the relay and secured their 13th straight conference championship.

“With the level we were both performing at, I knew it would be between us and William and Mary,” said Head Coach Dave Allen. “And we put ourselves in a position to win.”

Allen retired last Thursday in the wake of his final championship. He ends his 37-year tender as head coach and founder of the program. The coach has won CAA Coach of the Year 15 times and should expect another this year.  

“I’d never thought I’d be with the program this long. They probably didn’t think I’d be here this long,” said Allen. “But Wilmington is a place where if you spend a little bit of time here, you fall in love with it.” 

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The Men’s team has an ongoing feud with their conference foe. As they expanded their program and became more competitive, the Tribe looked to take down the defending champs in the in 2012-13 season. The Seahawks defeated the Tribe, beating them 674-633 and ending their hope for a Colonial Athletic Association Championship. As the championships mounted, the target on UNCW grew larger.

Allen had his work cut out for him as the 2013-14 season started in September. The Men’s team had lost two top swimmers from transfers due to the imminent budget cuts and their 2-2 record reflected the absence. William and Mary smelled blood in the water during a pod meet in early November on the James Madison University campus.

 “It was kinda weird swimming there,” said senior Michael Baric. James Madison’s Men’s team became a Title XI casualty in 2006. “You would look up and see the record board and think, ‘that could have been us.’”

The Seahawks lost to the Tribe, 180-167. Before the end of the meet, William and Mary flaunted their early season win by chanting after every race, a practice seen as unsportsmanlike. The bragging continued onto social media as some Tribe swimmers proclaimed themselves CAA champs. 

“You never want to do that,” said Allen. “November is a long way from February.”

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Nine months previous to this season’s win, the program future suddenly became uncertain.

It was May and Allen had won his 12th straight men’s swim and dive CAA Championship nearly a month ago. It was vacation time. 

As swimmers headed home, Allen traveled with his wife to Lake Lure where they planned to stay for a week. The only commitment he had was a conference call with Athletic Director Jimmy Bass on Tuesday, three days into his vacation. The call would inform Allen of the results from the Intercollegiate Athletic Review Committee Report.

After some difficulties with the conference call, Allen was able to reach a secretary who connected him with Bass on Tuesday morning. Allen was shocked to hear what the athletic director was telling him. According to the report, Men’s and Women’s Swim and Dive teams were set to be cut for the 2013-14 season. 

“Keep my mouth shut. Keep my mouth shut,” Allen told himself as the AD went on. “Don’t say what you’re thinking. At this point its best not to say anything.”

He then told Bass he was going to hang up the phone.

After a long talk with his wife, Allen cut the vacation short and packed for Wilmington. When he arrived, Allen had a “heated discussion” with Bass where it became apparent that if they were going to save the 15-time CAA Champion program, the team would have to do it themselves. 

Sara Smith, a women’s swimmer, was at home in Maryland the Wednesday when the report officially released. A text from a coach revealed the team was in a crisis. Within the hour, Sara had created a petition and posted it to the newly made Facebook page, “SAVE UNCW SWIM & DIVE.” 

The Facebook page and the petition took off. Coaches wrote letters and made phone calls to alumni around the world for support. Swimmers like Matt Byrd, a rising-senior and captain, appeared on local radio shows to promote donations from the community. Social media made it possible to reach massive amounts of people including Olympic swimmer, Ryan Lochte who retweeted a #FightForUNCWSwimandDive tweet. 

“We were very grateful and relieved,” said Smith. “[Alumni] showed us, every single person, however successful they’ve been, incorporated us into their lives.”

In two weeks, the petition had over 14,000 signatures and the Facebook group had over 11,000 members. 

Fifteen days after the report was released, Chancellor Gary Miller announced, due to the tremendous support by the community, he would not cut any sports programs for the 2013-14 year. 

Relief settled over Allen as he watched the Burney Center erupt with cheer. But uncertainty still lingered.  

“There’s still work to be done,” said Allen. “We have to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

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Coming off the loss against William and Mary at the pod meet earlier in the season, UNCW dropped their next meet against NC State and finish second at the Patriot Invitational. The Seahawks would close the season winning three of four meets, only losing to the nationally ranked Virginia Tech Hokies. 

The next three weeks, head coach Dave Allen would push his squad to the limit. The conference championship was less than a month away.

“Everything is building toward the conference championship,” said Allen. “You’re putting a full season’s work into four days.” 

As the CAA Championship began in late February, Allen knew William and Mary would be the biggest threat to snap the program’s streak of 12 consecutive conference championships.

“I felt all along that [William and Mary] had the advantage over us because of the two gentlemen  transferring,” said Allen. “I felt they were a little better than we were.”

The Tribe had performed well all year and looked to finally steal the championship away from the Seahawks.

William and Mary led the championship at the end of the first day.

UNCW led at the end of day two.

William and Mary led at the end of day three.

On the final day of the conference championship, the lead flip-flopped with each event. After stellar performances by freshmen Allen Crosby and Nathan Lane and junior Chase Seymour, UNCW secured a two point lead with one event left. Whoever won the final relay would be CAA Champions. 

In the final relay, the team of Alex Labonge, Adam Satzman, Gabe Thran and Joe Gallene edged William and Mary’s team by two seconds. 

The Seahawks had won their thirteenth-consecutive CAA Championship, 729-721. 

Tears swelled in Allen’s eyes as he looked around the pool and saw his swimmers celebrate. This was the sweetest championship he had won.