Division I Northeast Conference Will Begin Sponsoring Men’s Swimming

The Northeast Conference announced on Tuesday that it will add men’s swimming & diving as the league’s 24th championship sport for the 2020-2021 collegiate season.

• See also: other NCAA conference changes for 2020

In its inaugural season, there will be 5 member institutions participating: Bryant, LIU, Mount St. Mary’s, St. Francis Brooklyn, and associate members Howard. The first 4 schools are full-fledged members that already participate in the NEC for most sports, while Howard’s primary membership is the MEAC, but also competes in the NEC in women’s swimming & diving.

The inaugural championship will take place at the Nassau County Aquatic Center in East Meadow, NY on February 17-20, 2021. The meet will be held concurrently with the NEC Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships.

While the conference hasn’t discussed the reasoning for the addition, nor the last-minute timing, we do know that the decision has been made at least more recently than early May, as LIU at that point planned to have its men’s team compete at ECACs or Metros as their championship meet.

This very last-minute announcement is the second NEC sport added to the roster in the last 2 seasons: field hockey was reinstated in 2019 after a 7-year gap, and before that men’s lacrosse was added in 2011.

Ironically, the 5 men’s programs competed in 4 different conferences last year. Usually, when we see teams orphaned from their primary conference, they move as a group to latch on to another conference. In this case, though, the teams were dispersed.

Where each team is coming from:

• Bryant previously competed in the MAAC, where they finished 3rd out of 10 teams last season. They were 252.5 points behind Rider, which has won the last 9 MAAC titles.
• St. Francis Brooklyn finished 4th at the Metropolitan Championship last year. That meet was established for several teams in and around the New York City area to have a season-ending championship event.
• Howard University competed in the CCSA last year, where they finished 6th – one spot ahead of Mount Saint Mary’s, with 212 points.
• Mount Saint Mary’s comes from the CCSA, a conference designed around swimming originally, and now beach volleyball as well. They finished last out of 7 teams with 150 points at the CCSA Championships.
• The LIU men’s team will have its first season this fall, though they have no roster and only limited information available so far.

In year 1, the team battle should be between Bryant University, whose women’s team has won the conference each of the last 3 seasons, and St. Francis Brooklyn. Howard will likely have the edge over Mount Saint Mary’s for 3rd, while LIU’s placing will depend on how quickly the program loads up.

The NEC, like most conferences, has postponed all of its fall sports competitions and championships, but has not yet announced any decisions about winter sports, including swimming & diving. The Council of Presidents will meet again on October 1 to evaluate its path forward.