The College Swimming League (CSL) has started to announce the team’s that will make up the league for its inaugural season. So far, six of the 12 teams have been officially announced and all finished in the top 25 at both the men’s and women’s 2026 NCAA Championships.
The CSL was announced back in December 2025 and is founded by Robert Kent, Kyle Sockwell, and has additional support from the International Swimming League (ISL). Kent was the former general manager and owner of the Toronto Titans in the ISL.
Announced Teams & 2026 Men’s and Women’s NCAA Finishes
| Men’s NCAA Finish |
Women’s NCAA Finish
|
|
| Virginia | 9 | 1 |
| Michigan | 8 | 6 |
| NC State | 6 | 9 |
| Georgia | 15 | 15 |
| Alabama | 24 | 11 |
| Auburn | 17 | 25 |
Virginia highlights the announced teams so far after the women’s program captured its 6th-straight NCAA title back in March while the men were 9th. Michigan and NC State also had both its men’s and women’s programs finish in the top 10.
One team that has not yet been officially announced this week but was a part of the original press release is Ohio State. Head Coach Bill Dorenkott was quoted in the original press release saying, “Ohio State is beyond thrilled to be a part of the inaugural season of the College Swimming League. Rob and Kyle have created a platform to promote the sport in a dynamic manner. We are grateful for the opportunity and looking forward to competing.”
Earlier this month, more formatting was announced for the first season. There will be 8 matches during the season with each “match” having four teams. Michigan’s press release detailed that there will be six meets in the regular season and two meets in the postseason. Each team in the league will compete in two meets during the regular season.
Each team is allowed only 14 men and 14 women, numbers that are much smaller than an average dual meet roster. There will be 15 events during each match.
Event Order
- 500 free
- 200 breast
- 200 back
- 200 free relay
- 200 fly
- 100 IM
- 100 back
- 100 free
- Skins
- 200 IM
- 100 breast
- 50 free
- 100 fly
- 200 free
- Super Skins
The league is supporting each NCAA school as it expects to provide free travel and lodging. It also has the goals of generating revenue and increasing visibility for the 12 participating schools.
Dream event order for a breaststroker btw… I never did a college meet where the 200 was before the 100
It’s touching to see swimfluencers branch out into swimgrifting.
Yo invite fsu, top 25 still 🙄🙏
A wise addition to college swimming
Is this the same format as the ISL? With 4 team matches almost every week?
I’m definitely a hardcore swimswam lurker and I have no idea what’s happening here!!
Listen to the Sockwell ss podcast about this – it explains a lot. It seems pretty legit
14 men and 14 women. Seems like if it is wildly successful it will lead to further reduction of roster spots.
I imagine any of the many swimmers who participated in the ISL that never got paid would be very annoyed to see “has additional support from the International Swimming League.”
I’d be really curious to know what that actually means and why that wouldn’t open the door to civil suits for those swimmers to get paid.