Men’s swimming and diving will become Simpson 19th varsity sport during the 2009-10 academic year.

The school, which already sponsors the sport for women and has offered swimming as a club sport for men, will become the fourth men’s program in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

“By adding men’s swimming as our 19th varsity program, we are giving even more students the chance to take advantage of the benefits provided by participating in college athletics,” said President John Byrd.

Simpson has sponsored a women’s program since 1997.

“We are very excited about moving our men’s swim team from a club team to a varsity program,” said John Sirianni, Simpson athletics director. “We believe we are in an excellent location to build a quality program.”