Marywood will sponsor men’s and women’s swimming and diving as a varsity sport beginning in 2010-11, following completion of its new aquatics center.

Construction began recently on the center, an extension of the Robert J. Mellow Center for Athletics and Wellness, and is scheduled for completion in November 2010.

The swimming teams, which will become the seventh men’s and eighth women’s sport at the school, will be coached by Tom Calomeris, who led Catholic to two men’s titles and a women’s crown in the National Catholic Championships. He also coached 14 Division III Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships individual qualifiers at the school while posting a 219-68-1 record.

The new aquatics center will include an eight-lane pool, team locker rooms and seating for 200 spectators.

Marywood will become the third member of the Colonial States Athletic Conference to sponsor swimming, joining Cabrini, which has men’s and women’s teams, and Notre Dame (Maryland), which sponsors the sport for women.