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Wisconsin women and athletics have a long history, but it wasn’t until 1974 when women’s sports were granted varsity status. Following the passage of Title IX in 1972, UW officials took another two years to create the Women’s Intercollegiate Athletics program, which debuted in the fall of 1974. Twelve women’s sports were added: badminton, basketball, cross-country, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, rowing, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, and volleyball. During its first year as a recognized varsity sport, the women’s rowing team won the national championship. That wasn’t the debut outing for Wisconsin women rowers, however: in 1895, the men’s crew coach — Aussie transplant Andrew O’Dea — began coaching women in the sport. The next big step for women’s sports was the creation of the Women’s Athletic Association in 1902. In the 1960s, interest in women’s sports on campus grew too big for that association to manage, so it was phased out as the need for a more centralized, national governing organization grew — what is today the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA. Here’s a complete look at the history of women’s athletics on campus

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