Swimmers from the women’s swimming team received free bike helmets yesterday at an event at Stanford’s Campus Bike Shop as part of a new policy for the team members.

“One of our girls was hit by a car, nothing serious, on her way to swim practice, so our coach thought to put a safety precaution that we all wear bike helmets now,” swimmer Sarah Haase ’16 said.

The coach of the women’s swimming team, Greg Meehan, called on other sports teams to encourage helmet usage.

According to some swimmers on the team, before the accident a minority of team members wore bike helmets.

“I’d say one or two people on our team [wear helmets],” swimmer Bridget Boushka ’17 said.

On the bike accident that spurred the new team policy, Meehan said, “It’s a good reminder that, you know, we probably take safety a little bit for granted on campus riding on our bikes, and while I can’t tell them how fast they can bike or how safely they get from one spot to another, I can mandate they can wear helmets.”

Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Deputy Allen James met Meehan at the scene of the bike accident involving the swimmer and during their discussion James brought up the idea of the event, which Meehan agreed to.

Meehan hopes that other sports teams will similarly encourage bike helmet usage.

“We had a coaches’ meeting last week and I challenged other coaches to organize this with their teams as well and I’m curious to see… down the road if anything happens from that,” Meehan said. “I’ll continue to challenge them when I can.”

James added that bike safety classes are available for any interested student to join, and that the Stanford University Department of Public Safety (SUDPS) can give students vouchers to buy bike helmets for a reduced price.

“It’s going to be detrimental to our classic swimmer bun look, but besides that it’s probably for the best,” Haase said.