At Swarthmore, we take pride in our 22 varsity athletic teams, with a quarter of our students participating as varsity athletes and many more engaged in intramural and club sports. The unique experience of attending these games, matches, and meets at a small school like ours is something to cherish. You’re likely to know someone on whatever team you are watching, fostering a sense of belonging and inclusivity. As a swimmer, our season begins in the fall and ends in February or March, allowing us to attend more athletic events without the overlap of competitions and practices.
The athletic community at Swat is well-supported. Classmates, professors (and their families), athletes’ families, and Swarthmore locals all show up to cheer on our athletes. Our Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC) also helps bring the teams together and performs more outreach activities to increase support for our athletes.
The support is also driven by the fact that the games are often highly entertaining. For instance, the men’s basketball team in the 2022-2023 season kept us on the edge of our seats as they competed in the Conference Championship and the NCAA tournament. They scored buzzer-beater and last-second shots in multiple games, making it all the way to the Final Four. These games were memorable, nerve-racking, and exhilarating, with incredible energy from the team and the crowd.
On certain Saturdays in the spring, the entire day can be filled with attending athletic events—the men’s and women’s tennis teams play, often with back-to-back matches. Men’s and women’s lacrosse also have games, with the women’s team playing first, followed by the men’s team. Meanwhile, baseball and softball are usually playing doubleheaders on adjacent fields. A doubleheader happens when they play two games in a row against the same team. The environment is vibrant and entertaining. Finally, while all this occurs, the men’s golf and women’s and men’s track and field teams compete, though not on campus. You can easily livestream these off-campus competitions using the Centennial Conference TV website.
There is no way to be bored on a Saturday in the spring. If you tire of watching one game, the facilities are all so close to each other that you can walk for a minute to see something else. Or, if you stay for the whole game or match, you can catch another game after. Attending these events is a great way to give yourself a break from academic work.
As I mentioned, Swarthmore provides the athletes with lots of support and shows off its school spirit. You will likely find our mascot, Phineas the Phoenix (a paid student position), walking between games and cheering on The Garnet. This strong support and school spirit is something we can all be proud of and helps us feel connected to our community.
Every once in a while, there’s a “tailgate,” if we are hosting rounds of the Conference or NCAA tournament, there will be free food trucks, shirts, or other Swat-labeled items. This year, we had a water ice truck one day, and at a men’s lacrosse game, they handed out free shirts to the first 100 attendees. The same thing happened during the men’s tennis Conference tournament. For one of the women’s lacrosse games, the team wore something green to support Mental Health Awareness Month, an initiative promoted through SAAC. Overall, our athletic events are fun and develop a tight-knit community of friends, families, fellow athletes and non-athletes alike.
