Marshall University is cutting its women’s swimming & diving program at the end of the 2025-26 season, team members were told Thursday by Athletic Director Gerald Harrison.
Marshall, located in Huntington, W. Va., is an NCAA Division I mid-major school and member of the Sun Belt Conference. The school does not sponsor a men’s swim & dive program.
After the Marshall women placed 2nd at the Sun Belt Conference Championships in 2024 and 2025, they, along with reigning Sun Belt champion James Madison and Liberty, officially joined the American Conference on July 1, 2025, as affiliate members in swimming & diving.
Prior to the Sun Belt briefly reviving its swimming & diving championship meet in 2024, Marshall competed in the Missouri Valley Conference Championships, most recently placing 6th at the 2023 conference meet.
The Marshall women are currently preparing to compete in the 2026 American Conference Swimming & Diving Championships, which run next week, Feb. 18–21, in Greensboro, N.C.
Team members were told that the decision was made for “financial reasons,” which Harrison referenced in an email sent to team members.
“This decision was made after evaluating what is required to provide the highest-quality student-athlete experience over the long term,” Harrison wrote in the email.
“Swimming requires significant ongoing facility, locker room, and infrastructure investment to support health, safety, training, and recruiting at the level our student-athletes deserve. At this time, we cannot commit to the level of facility and infrastructure investment necessary to support swimming and diving in the way our student-athletes deserve and expect from Marshall Athletics.”
Marshall also released a Q&A document answering questions that team members and supporters may have about the decision:
It was only two weeks ago that Marshall head coach Ian Walsh announced the hiring of Tom Huynh as the program’s new head diving coach.
There will be a public meeting with Marshall’s governing body discussing the decision to eliminate the program this coming Tuesday, Feb. 17, though team members won’t be able to attend as they head to their conference championship meet.
The news of Marshall’s program being cut came down shortly before news broke that the University of Montevallo, an NCAA Division II program, plans on cutting both its men’s and women’s swim & dive teams at the conclusion of the season.
The Thundering Herd have had a successful 2025-26 campaign thus far, winning six straight dual meets to close the regular season, with their most recent outing being a 215-81 victory over Toledo on Jan. 24 when they honored their two-member senior class, which includes Mia McBride and Tatum Robinson.
Despite having only two seniors, Marshall currently has 28 swimmers and divers on its roster, including 12 freshmen and seven sophomores.
Marshall only has two recruits scheduled to join them next season, Anna Whitley and Ava Haese.
The Thundering Herd last had an NCAA qualifier in the 2016-17 season, when Sirena Rowe Cervantes earned a spot in the 50 free after setting a new Marshall record of 22.08 in a time trial at the Conference USA Championships, a swim that still stands as the school record.
As someone who strongly values equity in collegiate athletics, I find this decision troubling. Women’s athletic programs provide not only competitive opportunities, but also scholarships, leadership development, community engagement, and lifelong benefits for the student-athletes who participate. Eliminating this program sends a discouraging message about institutional priorities.
If this decision is being driven by financial constraints, I respectfully request transparency around the criteria used to determine which programs are being reduced or eliminated. Specifically, I would like to understand whether equivalent reductions are being made to men’s programs to ensure compliance with Title IX principles and a continued commitment to gender equity in athletics.
Difficult financial decisions may sometimes be necessary, but they must be made fairly, consistently,… Read more »
Do you really think they are not aware of Title 9?
Small.schools ate struggling all over the country. Unfortunately schools are eliminating facutly, programs and sports.
I agree this is sad and i am a hige proponent of swimming and women.
I think there are more problems that need to be addressed for these smaller liberal arts colleges.
Using Title 9 and equity for women sports isnt what the problem is sad to say.
Much bigger. Dont get me weo g i hope the real issue is exposed and gets remedied so these liberal arts schools can thrive.
Sports get hit first and then the school closes.
Birmingham Southern is one example.
So sad on So many levela.
The president of the school who supported this decision is the richest man in WV with a net worth of 900 million. Marshall is not shutting down any time soon.
I’ve taken the last 24 hours to reflect on this situation with the Marshall University administration deciding to end the women’s swim and dive program. I’ve received and read messages from university president Brad Smith, AD Gerald Harrison and Chair Geoff Sheils. All use beautiful words to justify their actions, which reminds me of the Teddy Roosevelt quote – words full of sound and fury, yet signify nothing. This is the base ignorance being shown by the administration and board. They clearly do not value women’s athletics, especially represented at the highest international level in the Olympics. They talk about announcing this right before conference as it is best for the affected athletes – I wish they could see the… Read more »
Another one bites the dust – Perhaps Marshall will institute Flag Footsieball or Badminton or Alligator Wrastling?
Actually, they have already been told that tumbling will take their place.
Sign the petition to help them on their fight
https://c.org/LntX7LRRSG
The AD scheduled the “public meeting” the day the team leaves for their conference meet, hoping/assuming they won’t show up. How disgusting, calculated, and conniving! The meeting is 2/17. The championship meet starts 2/18! The AD is gross.
Did the AD schedule it then? Or is that just the next Board of Trustees meeting?
I’m sure the AD isn’t opposed to nobody showing up.
What a load of crap from the AD! The entire Henderson community uses that facility for swim lessons and fitness classes. The pool upkeep can’t be solely blamed on the swim and dive program. Shame on Marshall. They screwed over the kids and coaches on the team with this late notice and blindsiding them all. They literally just hired a new diving coach. Sickening, just like Michigan State. I stopped donating to MSU when they unceremoniously dumped their team, and they will never get another penny from me.
I do not believe for one second they will keep this pool open for long. They will for a year or two to save face but it is a when not if it will close. The high schools and club don’t pay enough to fund this “infrastructure investment” that is sited in part of why the team is being dropped. As the program director of the club team and former high school coach, we can not pay any higher fees than we already do. The way this was all done proves you can not trust this current MU administration.
It’s WV. What would you expect?