Their coach? Themselves. 

MSUSC is coached by the same athletes who compete on the team. It is completely student-run and funded, from the workouts planned to the logistics of team road trips, including CCS Nationals.

“We all share that experience of either having a coach that's really tough on you, a little bit scary to talk to,” said supply chain management and music senior Deema El-Mouazzen, MSUSC president. “When we have student coaches, it's a lot more chill. It's a lot more back and forth. There's room for adjustment, for the sets when we swim it. It just makes it a family environment.”

The student leadership has created a culture that reminds swimmers of why they started in the first place: for fun. 

“My whole life it was like ‘I am swimming for somebody else,’” said kinesiology junior Allison Alguire. “I have done all these practices because my mom made me go to swim, or I'm doing all these practices because my coach will be mad at me. But every single day that I'm here, I'm showing up because I'm enjoying the sport again. I'm showing up because I want to do well for my teammates and because we're all going to go have fun at nationals.”

Alguire is one of the four MSUSC coaches who alternate planning workouts for the four practice days of the week. But when she arrived at MSU, she had no intentions of swimming at all. 

Alguire grew up in a competitive swimming family and has watched three of her cousins compete at the DI level. Collegiate swimming was an idea throughout high school, but after her last competition at the state-level, Alguire was ready to hang up her cap and goggles. 

She arrived at MSUSC looking for friends, not the sport itself. Alguire found her friends, a group of people that helped her rediscover her love for swimming.  

“I feel like every time I get in the water, I'm getting a good workout in, and I'm also having a social time,” Alguire said. “It's brought back my love for a sport that I've done for so long, and almost made something new of it.”

MSUSC enjoys the freedom of student coaching, but it also comes with challenges. The club requires regular fundraising and thoughtful budgeting, handled by treasurer and human biology sophomore Deniz Ozil. 

“We get our funding from the student body and/or outside businesses,” Ozil said. “So we do fundraising through events or businesses that are off campus, such as Raising Canes, or we do organized events for volunteering, such as the Ronald (McDonald) House.”

MSUSC holds one or two fundraising events a semester to prioritize club affordability. Swimmers pay $65 a semester or $130 a year in dues. Competition registration, travel and hotel stay is completely covered by club fundraising. 

“We want expenses for our swimmers to be as low as possible,” El-Mouazzen said. “They're already paying a fee to the club. It's their hard work and their dedication that's getting them to [regionals and nationals]. So it feels unfair to charge them to demonstrate all their strengths and also represent the school.” 

El-Mouazzen, Ozil and Alguire said they would still be a part of the club if they had to pay more, but they know other members would not. El-Mouazzen said she would not attend nationals every year and Alguire called the club’s coverage of competitions a relief. 

“Even my cousin who swims on a Division I team, she doesn't even get all her stuff paid for,” Alguire said. “I'm going to Greensboro and driving down there, and I don't have to worry about anything. It makes it feel like you're on an actual team.”

Managing fundraisers and other logistics of MSUSC is like a full-time job for the e-board, although Ozil said he has no problem sacrificing his time for the club.

“It's one of the things that never stops,” El-Mouazzen said. “If you have a normal job, it's a nine to five, and then you know when you're done. This is all through the week, between your classes.”

The e-board is proud of its freedom and its work to break even each year, but it would appreciate more financial assistance. University financial assistance would allow for competitions that are outside of MSUSC’s current budget, Ozil said. 

The team competes in eight meets throughout the entire year, hosting two. The two home meets are the only competitions guaranteed to MSUSC swimmers. Aside from those, only a select number of MSUSC swimmers can attend other competitions due to budget constraints. 

The club would also like an extra day of practice as most members were used to more than four days in the pool. 

The lack of assistance has come with challenges, but it has ultimately led to the peer-led culture that its members call home. 

For El-Mouazzen, the club helped her transition to MSU as an international student, providing immediate friendships when she arrived four years ago. The dues were the same and the club was student-led, just as it is under her presidency.  

“It's such a tighter knit community, because everything is decided as a team,” Alguire said. “It just makes it feel like there's not one person in power, and you can voice your opinions more.”

MSUSC student leadership has created an environment that allows competition, but also reminds its swimmers that they are more than just athletes, creating excitement instead of just nerves.

“Everyone knows that we're going to be a really good team, which is making the environment just, everyone's just excited,” Alguire said. “Even the freshmen are hearing stories of last year (at nationals) … I've never in my past experienced excitement over a meet. It's always nerves. And everyone just seems so excited to swim, which is a totally different environment than I've ever been used to.” 

Alguire said MSUSC is “not in the cards to win” nationals as a whole but has a shot at finishing high and winning events, particularly relays. For the swimmers, it means more because they pushed themselves there together.