In this December, 1973 article (Document JH, 57), Debbie Swiss discusses the growth of women’s athletics at Bowdoin since their introduction in 1971. She demonstrates the initial small number of women participating in some athletics at the College, explaining for example, that the women’s swimming program was under scrutiny because of a lack of participation. One interesting problem women athletes faced was a lack of competitions; women’s teams played against the Brunswick Women’s Recreation Center and Brunswick High School, rather than against other colleges. Coaches also faced high demands, as they were often responsible for scheduling games that were to be played with little practice time beforehand. Even so, a willingness on the part of the coaches and players rings clear throughout the article.
