The College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association (CSCAA) has set the event dates for both the Open Water Championships and the National Invitational Championships (NIC), with the Open Water Championships taking place in December of this year and the NICs taking place in March of 2027.
As announced in the CSCAA newsletter, both events will take place in Florida, with the Open Water Championships contested on December 12, 2026, in Sarasota. About three months later, the National Invitational Championships will return to the FAST Facility in Ocala from March 11 through the 13th, 2027.
This will be the 2nd consecutive year that the College Open Water Championships will be held in Sarasota, having previously been hosted by Florida International University.
As in the past, NICs will run directly before the NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships. Most recently in 2026, the NICs were raced in Ocala from March 12-14, with the NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships kicking off just four days later in Atlanta.
In 2027, both the men’s and women’s NCAA Championships will be held at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin on the campus of the University of Texas.
This past college season, the Rice University women and Grand Valley State men each claimed the team titles at the 2025 College National Open Water Championships in December, while at the NICs, it was the University of Kentucky women and Queens University (NC) who were crowned meet champions in March of 2026.
Is the CSCAA Open Water race open to non-NCAA swimmers, as in College Club swimmers??
The 2025 meet information specifies:
All participants in the CSCAA College National Open Water Swimming
Championship must be collegiate student-athletes eligible to compete for their
NCAA, NAIA or NJCAA member institutions for the current school year and meet
the specific event qualifying criteria.
I would bet if a collegiate club team wanted to send athletes, the CSCAA would be open to the conversation. You should reach out.