Lindenwood Adds Synchronized Swimming to
Athletic Department

August 27, 2007

St. Louis, Mo. - The Lindenwood athletics department continues to grow as the school announced today the addition of synchronized swimming as its 41st athletics program.  The synchronized swimming team will start competition during the 2008-09 school year.

Lindenwood will be the 35th school to compete in the sport, and the 10th to offer a varsity program.  Five NCAA Division I schools sponsor synchronized swimming as a varsity sport, including three-time national champion Stanford.  

Lori Eaton, a current U.S. National Team coach, will serve as Lindenwood's head coach. Eaton has placed 21 athletes into the Jr. National Team Trials since 1999 and was named the 2004 U.S. Olympic Committee Developmental Coach of the Year. She has coached at the St. Louis Gateway Synchro Club since 2005, and in 2007 served as Head Coach of the U.S. Junior National Team.

"Synchronized swimming has a lot of clubs and athletes in the Midwest, but not enough college opportunities for those athletes," said Eaton. "The possibilities seem endless to develop a quality program at Lindenwood."

Eaton was a member of the Ohio State team which won the 1997 Collegiate National Championship. She was a two-time member of the U.S. Junior National Team and qualified for the 1994 U.S. Olympic Festival.

Synchronized swimming is a growing sport in the United States, especially in the Midwest. The sport has a 40-year history of success in the St. Louis area, including several national champions and the city’s first Olympic medalist, Tammy Crow, in 2004.

The synchronized swimming schedule will include mostly dual and tri-meets during the regular season. The season concludes with a regional competition and the U.S. Collegiate National Championships in March. The top teams are also eligible to compete at the U.S. Nationals in April.

For more information, please contact Lori Eaton at synchrolori@sbcglobal.net.