THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, February 24, 1995              TAG: 9502220118
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS      PAGE: 14   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: Bill Leffler 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   50 lines

SWIMMING COACH AT ODU STAYS IN RECRUITING LANE

Old Dominion University men's and women's swimming and diving coach Carol Withus has a season that runs from September to March.

Many of those days begin with swimmers in the pool at 5:30 a.m.

And, with high school swimming on a backburner in most of the area, she has to look other places for talent.

Says Withus: ``Recruiting is like shaving. If you don't do it every day, you look like a bum.''

Withus is finishing up her second year as the ODU coach. But at 31, she already has built a name in swimming circles. She compiled a 55-12 record at New York University and produced eight NCAA All-Americans.

Withus, on a Monday visit to the Portsmouth Sports Club, said 90 percent of her swimmers at ODU were freshmen this year. She feels three have a chance at the Olympic Trials next year.

None of the swimmers have full scholarships, but about half the squad has partial grants.

``We have kids from Arizona, Florida and California,'' she said. ``And we are bringing in more and more local swimmers.''

She noted that 12 club teams are in the area. That includes the Old Dominion Aquatic Club.

``And a lot of the country clubs are doing a good job in developing swimmers,'' she said.

Withus actually worked without a pool her first season as coach at ODU. The pool was undergoing renovation.

But she says recruiting is no problem. ``We can sell the area, we can sell the campus, we can sell the attention that is given to academics and hopefully we'll reach the point where we can sell tradition as in women's basketball,'' she said.

Tradition in swimming has been building slower because of the turnover in coaches, says Withus. She hopes to change that.

``I was attracted to Old Dominion by the success of the women's basketball team,'' she said.

In the Colonial Athletic Association meet last week, the ODU men's team finished fifth and the women were seventh. How hard did Withus work with the two teams?

``It's a good thing I wasn't scheduled to speak to the Sports Club on Saturday,'' she said. ``I hollered so much I lost my voice.'' by CNB