The South Florida Bulls swimming and diving program represented the University of South Florida in the sport of swimming. The program consisted of separate men's and women's teams which competed in NCAA Division I at the time of the program being discontinued in 1987.
The 1984–85 women's swimming team is the only varsity team in South Florida Bulls history to win an NCAA National Championship. The men's and women's teams also combined for 17 individual and relay national championships in their history.
Men
The USF men's swimming team was founded in 1965 as one of the first teams to be sponsored by the young university. In the team's first NCAA Championship appearance in 1969, Joe Lewkowicz won the first individual national championship in school history in the 200-yard butterfly event.[2] Two years later, the team would place second in the NCAA College Division. Members of the team would go on to win six individual national championships and one relay national championship.[3]
Women
The women's swimming team, known as the Lady Brahmans at the time, was founded in 1972 after the passing of Title IX.
1984–85 National Championship
The 1984–85 South Florida Lady Brahmans team won the NCAA Division II National Championship, which was the first, and as of 2023, only NCAA National Championship in school history in any sport.[4]
14 men's and women's swimming coaches and athletes that were part of the USF swimming teams have since been inducted into the University of South Florida Athletic Hall of Fame. They include head coach Bill Mann, assistant coach Lou Manganiello, the 10 members of the 1984–85 women's swimming team, Joe Lewkowicz, and men's head coach Robert Grindey.[9]
Folding
Both the men's and women's swimming teams were disbanded after the 1986–87 season due to financial difficulties along with the sport not being sponsored by the Sun Belt Conference.[10]
^[fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/swimming_champs_records/2014-15/D2men14.pdf "NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving record book"] (PDF). Archived(PDF) from the original on 2020-09-20. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
^[fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/swimming_champs_records/2014-15/D2women14.pdf "NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving record book"] (PDF). NCAA.org. Archived(PDF) from the original on 2020-09-20. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
