Division I Swim & Dive Coaches Volunteer $6.2 Million from 2020-21 Budgets

NCAA Division I swimming and diving coaches have voluntarily given back a combined $6.2 million from their 2020-21 school year budgets to host institutions, the College Swimming Coaches Association of America announced Thursday. The voluntary cuts are intended to preempt severe fallout (like cutting entire programs) due to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In response to the financial impact COVID-19 is having on higher education and intercollegiate athletics, Division I swimming and diving coaches have banded together to slash costs and identify ways to make our sport more sustainable,” the CSCAA said.

According to the release, budget cuts have come from scholarships, roster sizes, salaries, and staffing. Some teams “swapped top-ranked national matchups for lower profile in-state competitions,” the CSCAA said, and other teams are “exploring virtual meets.”

Additionally, some coaches have given up preseason or winter training trips, and others have declined their bonuses.

In April, a head coach of a combined men’s and women’s Power 5 team reached out to SwimSwam to share how he voluntarily cut $150,000 from a $2 million budget to preempt cuts. That coach canceled a cross-country trip for a quad meet, requested no increase in his new contract, requested to delay filling a vacant assistant coach position on the staff, and will only order one tech suit per athlete as opposed to two.

Thursday’s CSCAA announcement is signed by 108 coaches, 30 of them anonymously.

Coach name, school
Anonymous, FCS Head Coach* Jeanne Fleck, Fresno State Anonymous, FBS Head Coach* Phil Hurley, Saint Francis (PA)
Augie Busch, Arizona Anonymous, FCS Head Coach* Anonymous, FBS Head Coach* Jim Halliburton, Saint Louis
Bob Bowman, Arizona State Brian Thomas, George Washington Hollie Bonewit-Cron, Miami (OH) Anonymous, FCS Head Coach*
Neil Harper, Arkansas Amanda Caldwell, Georgia Southern Michael Bottom, Michigan Anonymous, FBS Head Coach*
Anonymous, FBS Head Coach* Anonymous, FBS Head Coach* Matt Gianiodis, Michigan State Anonymous, FCS Head Coach*
Mike Stephens, Boston College Steve Schaffer, Grand Canyon Anonymous, FBS Head Coach* McGee Moody, South Carolina
Dan Schinnerer, Bucknell Eddie Gillie, Green Bay Andrew Grevers, Missouri Jason Mahowald, South Dakota
Andy Bashor, Buffalo Elliot Ptasnik, Hawaii Dave Collins, Missouri State Douglas Humphrey, South Dakota State
Rick Rowland, Cal Baptist Ryan Wochomurka, Houston Anonymous, FCS Head Coach* Geoff Hanson, Southern Illinois
Teri McKeever, California Nic Askew, Howard William Roberts, Navy Dan Schemmel, Stanford
Bill Ball, Central Connecticut Anonymous, FCS Head Coach* Anonymous, FBS Head Coach* Anonymous, FCS Head Coach*
Mandy Commons-DiSalle, Cincinnati Susan Novitsky, Illinois Braden Holloway, NC State Matt Kredich, Tennessee
Anonymous, FCS Head Coach* Caitlin Hamilton, Illinois State Pablo Morales, Nebraska James Winchester, Texas Christian
Woody Woodard, Colorado State Tim Loeffler, Illinois-Chicago Anonymous, FCS Head Coach* Matt Macedo, UC Santa Barbara
Jim Bolster, Columbia Anonymous, FCS Head Coach* Ian Coffey, North Florida Jordan Wolfrum, UCLA
Chris Maiello, Connecticut Ray Looze, Indiana Andy Johns, Northern Arizona Elizabeth Lykins, UNC Asheville
Anonymous, FCS Head Coach* Anonymous, FCS Head Coach* Lisa Ebeling, Northern Colorado Joe Dykstra, Utah
Chris Hansen, CSU Bakersfield Nick Cavataro, Iona Michael Litzinger, Notre Dame Jeremy Organ, Vanderbilt
Jamie Holder, Dartmouth Dane Pedersen, James Madison Anonymous, FBS Head Coach* Gerry Courmoyer, Vermont
Anonymous, FCS Head Coach* Clark Campbell, Kansas Anonymous, FCS Head Coach* Rick Simpson, Villanova
Alicia Hicken Franklin, Denver Jim Dailey, Lafayette Bret Lundgaard, Princeton Andrew Bretscher, VMI
Dan Colella, Duke Amy Burgess, Little Rock John O’Neill, Providence Anonymous, FCS Head Coach*
Anonymous, FCS Head Coach* Anonymous, FCS Head Coach* Anonymous, FBS Head Coach* Matthew Leach, Washington State
Anonymous, FCS Head Coach* David Geyer, Louisiana State Seth Huston, Rice Victor Riggs, West Virginia
Jeff Poppell, Florida Brian Loeffler, Loyola (MD) Matthew Barany, Richmond Anonymous, FCS Head Coach*
Randy Horner, Florida International Patrick Malone, Manhattan Stephen Fletcher, Rider David Denniston, Wyoming
Neal Studd, Florida State Larry VanWagner, Marist Anonymous, FCS Head Coach* Brad Smith, Youngstown State

The release also notes that while swimming and diving is considered a “non-revenue” sport, its athletes paid $273 million in tuition and fees in the 2019-20 school year. Athletes in the Ivy League, where there are no athletic scholarships, paid the most at $26.2 million last year.

It also says that schools spent about $5,100 per swimmer last season, making swimmers more expensive than only rowers and track athletes in the realm of college sports.

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Parent
3 years ago

I agree that some concessions are better than others if it allows the sport to continue. Travel is a high cost item that could provide savings in the coming year. Even freezing salaries for a year is not unreasonable. Cutting the only diving coach is significant.

Parent
3 years ago

It’s my understanding that Miami (OH) has elected to eliminate the diving coach to cut their budget. Where does this leave the divers, program, and recruits? A number of the options mentioned in this article would seem to be more cost effective. Someone still has to coach these divers.

Diver
Reply to  Parent
3 years ago

I hear that they are hiring a swim coach who dived in high school.

Parent
Reply to  Diver
3 years ago

That kind of move implies they have low regard for the diving portion of their team.

Dan
3 years ago

FCS vs FBS?

Rookie
Reply to  Dan
3 years ago

Division I-A and I-AA were renamed “Football Bowl Subdivision” (FBS) and “Football Championship Subdivision” (FCS), respectively

Diver
3 years ago

Is Bob Bowman’s contribution cutting the diving program??

Guerra
Reply to  Diver
3 years ago

Bob Bowman should be paying ASU to coach there with the poor performance of the team during his tenure and the high turnover in athletes and coaches under his watch. It’s been an embarrassment…

Coach
Reply to  Guerra
3 years ago

“They don’t hate the good ones. They hate the great ones.” -Kobe Bryant.

Guerra
Reply to  Coach
3 years ago

You’ve got to be kidding… Bowman’s record coaching college TEAMS speaks for Itself. His performance at Michigan was below average and at ASU, it’s been disgraceful. I’ll give him credit for Phelps. He’s a good personal trainer and a lousy coach when leading actual teams.

Admin
Reply to  Guerra
3 years ago

In Bowman’s 4 NCAA championship meets, Michigan was 6th, 8th, 7th, and 6th. In the 4 years prior, under Jon Urbanchek, they were 5th, 9th, 9th, and 10th (reverse order).

If four top-8 finishes at NCAAs is “below average” then I’d love to be “below average.”

Powertower
Reply to  Braden Keith
3 years ago

*Mic drop.

Guerra
Reply to  Powertower
3 years ago

Pfff…

About Torrey Hart

Torrey Hart

Torrey is from Oakland, CA, and majored in media studies and American studies at Claremont McKenna College, where she swam distance freestyle for the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps team. Outside of SwimSwam, she has bylines at Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, SB Nation, and The Student Life newspaper.

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