A Brief History of Women’s Athletics at Clemson
When Hall-of-Fame Athletic Director Bill McClellan took over the athletic department in 1971, Clemson had no women’s varsity athletics teams. Just four years later (and three years after the passing of Title IX), McClellan announced in September of 1975 the elevation of basketball, fencing, swimming and tennis as the first women’s varsity sports. By 1977, Clemson had also added volleyball and field hockey, enhancing facilities and infrastructure quickly. Six of the first eight programs had a final top 20 ranking within their first five years of existence.
The first varsity women’s athletics competition was a women’s swimming tri-meet against Brenau and Appalachian State on Nov. 11, 1975. Mary K. King was the first woman to earn a head coach title at Clemson, as she led both the tennis and basketball programs in their first seasons (1975-76). Women’s tennis finished its first season 10-2, and women’s basketball finished with a 13-11 mark that season. Fencing finished its inaugural season 2-6 overall, and swimming was 6-5. Over the next two decades, Clemson would add cross country, track and field and diving. Soccer began competition in 1994, Rowing in 1999, Golf in 2013, Softball in 2020, Lacrosse in 2023 and Gymnastics in 2024.
Clemson’s first individual national champion was Tina Krebs, who in 1983 won the indoor 1000-meter race. She would add NCAA titles in 1985 (indoor 1500m) and 1986 (indoor mile). Overall, Clemson has 18 individual national championship performances, (13 in Track & Field, four in Swimming, and one in Rowing), 23 ACC team championships, and ten Olympic medalists.
Each year, more than 275 women suit up in the orange and purple. Thousands of women’s athletes have called Clemson home and participated in a total of 16 sports throughout the years. In addition to the student-athletes, Clemson presently has women in head coach roles for seven sports – men’s and women’s cross country, volleyball, golf, rowing, lacrosse and gymnastics.
In the 2023-24 season, women’s golf and women’s soccer had their best seasons ever, advancing to NCAA quarterfinals or better. Gymnastics made the NCAA Championships in its inaugural season and lacrosse ranked third nationally in attendance. With a recent infusion of more than $50 million in facility upgrades, including rowing, tennis, softball, lacrosse, gymnastics, volleyball and track and field, Clemson is poised for long-term…