ORONO – In the weeks before the college swimming season started, University of Maine head coach Walter “Skip” Nitardy found himself with a problem.

It was the kind of problem coaches like to have, however.

With 32 men interested in swimming for the Black Bears, Nitardy had to make some cuts to get down to the program limit of 24.

Once the cuts were made, however, Nitardy didn’t want to just let the others walk away, so he started a competitive club program. He’s been working with a group of swimmers four nights a week.

“I feel like, we had extra guys wanting to come out for the team, and I may have more next year, I want them to have something to do,” said Nitardy, who took over the program this summer from longtime coach Jeff Wren. “I didn’t want to turn them away.”

While that group toils away in the evenings, Nitardy is pleased with the progress of both the men’s and women’s teams this season. The Black Bears opened against Rhode Island Saturday with the Maine women winning 184-116, while Nitardy said the Bear men swam well in a 185-114 loss.

The competitive club is similar to the Black Bear Swim Club started early in Wren’s career. The earlier club stopped at some point.

These days, Nitardy works with a group of club swimmers Monday through Thursdays. The men have been connected with the Old Town-Orono YMCA in order to compete.

Nitardy’s wife, Jill Nitardy, is the executive director of the YMCA, which is located in Old Town. The connection with the Y team there, Canoe City Swim Club, was needed in order for UMaine to follow NCAA rules.

Maine’s competitive team not only keeps the men interested in swimming but may eventually serve as a type of feeder program for the Black Bears. It also means there’s a structure in place for a summer program.

“In the past the swimmers were off on their own direction,” said Nitardy, who was most recently the Bangor Y team’s head coach. “They might come and swim with me over at Bangor. Now they can come swim here under the guidelines we have.”

And with the way young male swimmers typically peak later, Nitardy said, a coach never knows if someone who’s a little weak now could turn into a contributor.

“You’ve got to give them a chance,” he said.

So why did Maine have so many men come out for the team? Nitardy believes it’s partially the trickle-down effect of some Div. I schools cutting their men’s swimming programs. The Maine men do not have any scholarships available to them.

“The men have fewer choices,” he said. “We have a men’s program that’s here to stay and that’s going to help us. Would I love to have scholarships? Sure. But the point is, we have a program.”

Nitardy said the recent academic successes of the men’s team has also drawn swimmers. The Black Bears had the best grade-point average of the America East conference and the women have done well, too – they were second last year.

As for the Maine team, the men will be strong in the freestyle and butterfly events but have fewer breaststrokers, although one of those, Biddeford’s Cully Wakelin, is among the Bears’ top returners. Sophomore Wakelin won the 100-yard breaststroke and 100 free Saturday.

A freshman, Jeremy Bender of St. Paul, Minn., won the 1,000 free, the 500 free and was second in the 200 fly.

“We were outmatched, but I can’t tell you how many best times we had,” Nitardy said. “It was nice to have [Bender] come in as a freshman and get the older guys going. That’s what happens; when one starts out strong, the others get rolling.”

The women, who have eight full scholarships available with at least 10 swimmers on some form of scholarship, have a lot of versatility this year.

“We can really move them around,” Nitardy said. “Their first meet they won solidly and we had butterflyers doing backstroke because we have so many butterflyers. Next weekend the lineup will probably look different just because I want them to move around.”

The Bears’ strongest areas will be in fly, breaststroke and distance freestyle.

Those were several of the events Maine won against URI. Colleen Miller who holds several UM records, won the 200 free, the 50 free and the 500 free. Mimi Chovanec took the 1,000 free and 200 back, while Caitlin Shelley won the 100 breaststroke. Kerstin Fenton, a California native and sophomore transfer, won the 200 breaststroke, and Meag Fisher took the 100 fly. Kari Boffa won the 100 free.