Drew Johansen, Olympic Head Diving Coach, Worried About His Sport’s Future

by Will Baxley 19

September 30th, 2024 Big Ten, College, Diving, News

Drew Johansen, four-time U.S. Olympic Head Diving Coach, thinks the sport’s future is jeopardized by NCAA revenue sharing, a change in championship models, and no seat at the table for diving coaches.

“Diving’s vulnerability has always essentially been outside of our control,” he told SwimSwam.

Championship Model Change

Conferences across the country are trending towards valuing divers lower than they used to at conference meets. For example, the SEC has a 1:1 ratio between swimmers and divers for roster spots. The ACC guarantees three divers a roster spot per team, but after that they also use a 1:1 ratio. 

Divers can contribute to the team in at most three individual events, while swimmers can contribute in three individual events plus four relays. To Johansen, who serves as Indiana’s Head Diving Coach, the 1:1 ratio “reduced the opportunities for divers at those meets and therefore the need to support a diving team.”

In an attempt to increase diver’s values, Johansen said the diving community wants to add new diving events. 

“In the last 10 years the diving community has lobbied the NCAA and the major conferences to add events to [the] championship schedule, like a synchronized 3-meter event or the team event,” Johansen said. “If scored as a relay, this would give divers similar opportunities that swimmers have, and we could make the math easier. Diving cannot survive a one-to-one counting system without adding events for diving.”

Revenue Sharing

In a USA Today opinion piece, Johansen argued that revenue sharing with student-athletes in lucrative sports would take away funds from Olympic sports. 

The revenue-sharing model that worries Johansen comes from the House v. NCAA ruling on name, image, and likeness (NIL). Under this ruling, which has been a road map for athletic department decisions, universities have the option to share up to 22% of their athletic revenue with student-athletes. The ruling also calls for universities to pay $2.8 billion dollars to former athletes from the last ten years to make up for missed NIL opportunities. The bulk of revenue and payouts would go to athletes from revenue-generating sports, football and basketball. These policies are expected to be implemented soon.

In his article, Johansen claimed that top athletic departments could lose 20-25% of their funding to these policies. He’s worried that to make up for the loss, schools would cut non-revenue Olympic sports. If this happened on a large scale, Johansen argued, diving and other Olympic sports would lose their development model.

“The support and resources of [the] NCAA have been the backbone of a lot of our Olympic sports: world class facilities, coaching positions, education for our athletes,” Johansen wrote. “I’m worried that I could lose my profession.”

No Seat At The Table

In the midst of revenue and weight changes that could affect diving, Johansen feels the sport has no say so in its own future. He has unsuccessfully tried to get his sport a seat at decision-making tables in the NCAA and within swimming & diving. Currently, Johansen said that swim coaches hold the power for decisions that affect both swimming and diving, such as the conference ratio rules.

“There is a vacant diving seat on the CSCAA (College Swim Coach Association) board that I have applied for, the board decided not to accept my application and I was told they wanted to ‘move in a different direction’,” Johansen told SwimSwam. “My hope was to join the group so we can all work together to navigate the transformational period that we are in. I am anxious to see what direction that will be.” 

In his opinion article, Johansen suggested litigation as a potential action to save diving programs, but only if necessary. 

“(Diving) programs were dropped during COVID, leading to litigation against some schools. It is important that we take the necessary steps to avoid any considerations of litigation,” he told SwimSwam.

Johansen served as the head U.S. Olympic Diving Coach in the last four Olympics. He has also been the head diving coach at Indiana since 2013, where he won CSCAA Diving Coach of the Year three times. At the 2023 Men’s NCAA championships, Indiana divers combined for two national titles, five medals, and over 30 points more than any other diving program.

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Bing chilling
1 month ago

The sports are extremely different one objective with times, one subjective with judges. Should’ve always been separate.

Becky D
1 month ago

NCAA Swimming and Diving is already in a virtual lifeboat. Instead of looking for ways to reach shore together, there’re people rationalizing tossing the divers out of the boat. Because they’re different.

We’re going to need to get more creative, or we’re all going down.

MIKE IN DALLAS
1 month ago

His comments are spot on!
If the Olympic can have synchro diving, why not NCAA’s? it would be athletic, enjoyable, and awesome – and i don’t even do diving – never have.
. . . And why NOT a diving team score equal to 1 relay? What a fantastic way to add excitement!

bob
Reply to  MIKE IN DALLAS
1 month ago

The Olympics treat diving as an entirely separate sport from swimming. I think we should do that as well 🤷🏽‍♂️

Mark R. Lambert
1 month ago

Drew, as always, is extremely prescient.
His ‘USA Today’ opinion piece stated the
Impending danger to ALL non-revenue sports
as Conferences figure roster sizes.

Specific to swimming/diving, at any Championship, a swimmer could have a
maximum of seven “splashes.” For divers,
a maximum of two “plunges. (Would be
three if platform is contested)
So…how is 7 to 2(3) equivalent to
ONE SWIMMER = ONE DIVER???

DIVING MATTERS

IU Swammer
Reply to  Mark R. Lambert
1 month ago

Beyond championships, roster limits also impact dual meets. With a 23-man roster, nearly every swimmer will have to swim relays just to fill the slots, and there are only two diving events. So in dual meets, divers become a liability. Most programs are not competing for a conference or NCAA title, so dual meets matter for them.

Jonathan
1 month ago

I think the fact that China pretty much wins all the diving gold medals internationally really dampens interest in diving in the US.

IU Swammer
Reply to  Jonathan
1 month ago

Maybe, but diving is one of the top 5 most-watched sports at the Olympics for US audiences. People like watching diving, but maybe China’s dominance turns away investment and interest from young athletes.

MigBike
1 month ago

Coach Johansen is very astute and spot on regarding the plight of NCAA diving. As the red headed step child of NCAA swimming, we are very close to seeing diving as a thing of the past. Cost of a diving coach, liability and the lower impact in some conferences will hurt. Perhaps the positive will be USA gymnastics will benefit. Also could be good for swimming programs to not have to carry the divers. Times are changing and all must learn to dance to the tune of change.

Last edited 1 month ago by MigBike
Bevo
1 month ago

What is the CSCAA doing in lobbying efforts?

Swimws
Reply to  Bevo
1 month ago

Lobbying for swimming

Bill Price
1 month ago

I’m surprised that diving has held on as long as it has. What is the connection between swimming and diving and how did they become the same sport in scholastic settings? Both activities cause participants to get wet, but other than that there’s really no connection.

Jimbo
Reply to  Bill Price
1 month ago

Because they were always the same sport at NCAAs. First NCAA championship in 1924, 1m diving was an event. Brest stroke was not yet. Oddly enough it was all in meters

JimSwim22
Reply to  Jimbo
1 month ago

Butterfly wasn’t a stroke until 1950s. 200 Breast was an event in 1924

swimgeek
Reply to  Bill Price
1 month ago

They happen in the same unique venue. Swim & Dive arguably have more connection that, say, 400M hurdles and shot put, which are both part of Track & Field

Last edited 1 month ago by swimgeek
JimSwim22
Reply to  swimgeek
1 month ago

But do track enthusiasts complain about field events the way Cal fans complain about Texas playing the game smarter than them?

Joe
Reply to  Bill Price
1 month ago

Well, I agree – there really isn’t a connection except “water.” However, I think for many schools (and I could be off-base with this), swimming lanes and diving boards share the same water….so I think the logistics made sense to group the two sports together. Separate diving wells were few and far between.

Aside from that, from my personal experience in small town Indiana, kids didn’t have an opportunity to dive if you didn’t participate in swimming first.. the shorter, bendy kids were pulled from a practice lane in 6/7th grade to determine they could bounce or not. If you separated swimming from diving, the diving team would only be 1-2ish max. and there wouldn’t be any other teams… Read more »

cynthia curran
Reply to  Joe
1 month ago

I guess Mission Viejo solve that since they had divers at Diving trials. In fact the diving team is as important as the swim team there. Now, its hard if their are less college programs for them

50 Meter Pools Rule
Reply to  Bill Price
1 month ago

Why not throw in a quick water polo game between swim events? Or maybe some synchro swimming? It would be just as annoying and asinine as what we have always had with Diving as a part of meets.