Division I Coaches Back ‘B’ Finals, Recruiting Changes in CSCAA Survey

The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association has released some of the results from the survey sent out to Division I Swimming and Diving coaches following the NCAA Division I Championships in March, and there are a few things that most coaches agree on including support for bringing back ‘B’ finals.

In October, the CSCAA announced that there would be a new format for the 2026 NCAA Championships in March. This new format saw controversial changes, including the introduction of Automatic Qualifiers and the elimination of ‘B’ finals.

During the season, there was a lot of pushback about both decisions from coaches, swimming fans, and athletes. Following the meet, the CSCAA sent out a survey to Division I coaches about these changes, and potential future changes.

The CSCAA said the survey covered three areas: “the 2026 NCAA Championship changes, recurring recommendations for future championship changes, and support for recruiting reform”.

Not all of the questions included in the survey are in the results they released today, with the CSCAA noting “If a response did not produce meaningful direction — for example if there was no clear and collective sentiment or if an overwhelming number of respondents were “unsure” — we omitted it in the interest of keeping this report focused and efficient.”

The results and ensuing recommendations will be discussed with Division I coaches at the Division I Breakout Session on Monday, May 4.

You can see the results here.

There were 214 respondents from Division I coaches, of which 43% were head coaches, 45.8% were associate head or assistant coaches, and 11.2% were diving coaches. Of those coaches, 47.7% came from Power Four programs.

The biggest consensus in the results was the reinstatement of the ‘B’ finals. 91% of the respondents “Strongly Support or Support” bringing back ‘B’ finals next season with 5% voting they “Strongly Disagree or Disagree” and 4% voting they were “Neutral/Unsure”.

The poll also asked about conducting the ‘B’ finals prior to the finals session, which was more split, but saw 50% of the coaches voting they “Strongly Support or Support”, 27% voting they were “Neutral/Unsure”, and 23% voting “Strongly Disagree or Disagree”.

The other area that received a lot of pushback was the introduction of the Automatic Qualifier process which saw athletes earn an auto-bid for the NCAA Championships via conference title.

While there was a lot of discord at the beginning of the season, 87% of coaches voted that they understood the process and rationale and 69% voted that they supported multiple pathways to qualify.

The coaches also voted largely in support of recruiting reform with 86% voting to review and/or modify the initial start date, 79% voting to review and/or modify the annual calendar for recruiting, and 50% voting for reviewing and/or modifying the transfer window.

Other Notes

• 56% of coaches said they were not satisfied with the relay format with 62% voting that all relays should be conducted in the same session.
• 50% of coaches voted in favor of adding a ‘C’ final to the championships and increasing scoring to 24.
• Responses to the diving questions were largely inconclusive with the majority of coaches being “Neutral/Unsure” about the diving format supporting “competitive success” and taking “the appropriate amount of time”.
• The “Future Championship Recommendations” section only saw a few major agreements.
• 46% of coaches want to add 50s of stroke to the meet.
• 67% voted in support of a combined NCAA championship meet with diving first.
• Another area that has received criticism in the past is “last chance meets”, which 55% of coaches voted should be discontinued.
• Only 36% of coaches voted in favor of separation of swimming and diving championships

The CSCAA has also shared the next steps based on the survey results which are as follows:

1. The CSCAA Board has been updated on the survey results.
2. The CSCAA has met with ESPN regarding the 2026 championship, and those conversations are ongoing with the continued aim of securing linear coverage for the Division I Championships as soon as possible.
3. A working committee has been convened to review the survey and develop initial draft recommendations for consideration by the membership and, ultimately, the NCAA.
4. Leaders at our NGB have been updated on the survey results and our next steps.
5. In the coming weeks, the CSCAA will present recommendations developed by the working group and will collect feedback. The working group will review that feedback and revise the draft as needed.
6. CSCAA Division I breakout session on Monday, May 4, at the CSCAA Annual Meetings will discuss these recommendations as well. If you are a Division I coach, we strongly encourage you to register yourself or one person on your staff to be in attendance and participate in this meeting or submit feedback in advance.
7. Any recommendation that receives broad support will be finalized in May and presented to the NCAA in June.