The addition of men's swimming at the University at Bridgeport became official today. Originally announced by head coach Brad Flood at last week's CSCAA meetings, Director of Athletics Jay Moran made the official announcement today. In addition to men's swimming UB will add women's lacrosse for the 2009-2010 academic year. The addition of the two new programs will increase Bridgeport’s NCAA Division II athletic offerings to a total of 13 sports, eight for women and five for men.

Said Moran, “As an institution, we are extremely pleased to be able to increase our athletic offerings for potential student-athletes who would like to attend the University of Bridgeport. Being able to add sports shows the vision of our administration. With the growth in our enrollment and the improvements being made in our athletic facilities, this is a great time to a part of the Purple Knights’ family.”

Both the women’s lacrosse and men’s swimming teams will use the 2008-2009 academic year to recruit student-athletes before beginning competition the following year. A national search for a women’s lacrosse coach will beginning immediately so they can be in place when the new academic year begins in the fall, and current head coach of the Bridgeport women’s swimming program, which just completed its fourth varsity season with a 13th place finish at the 2008 NCAA Division II National Championship Meet, Brad Flood, will also serve as head coach for the men’s program.

Lacrosse will play its home games at the new UB Campus Field which debuted in the fall of 2007. Campus Field, which seats nearly 1,000 spectators, is a lighted facility that has a field turf playing surface. The men’s swimming team will hold its home meets in the natatorium located in Bridgeport’s Wheeler Recreation Center.

The women’s lacrosse team will compete in the East Coast Conference (ECC), one of strongest leagues for the sport in all of Division II, as an ECC school has won three of the last five national titles and finished as runner-up once in that same time period; while men’s swimming will be part of the Metropolitan Collegiate Conference, as the ECC does not sponsor swimming as a conference sport.

Currently the University of Bridgeport sponsors seven sports for women: basketball, cross country, gymnastics, soccer, swimming, softball and volleyball and four sports for men: baseball, basketball cross country and soccer.