On Tuesday, the NCAA’s Division II Championships Committee announced over $800,000 in budget allocation increases to enhance “participant opportunities and overall championship experience” for the division’s student-athletes.
While 17 requests were approved, a request by swimming & diving was one of 11 requests denied, and one of just three “increases in championship qualifiers” requests that were rejected (wrestling and golf, both requesting a bigger budget, were also denied).
Specifically, swimming requested $39,000 for a “field size cap limit adjustment for male swimmers.”
Currently, the Division II meet is capped at 175 men and 205 women.
Among the requests that were approved were increases in championships squad size for women’s volleyball, a men’s soccer bracket expansion to 38 teams, a women’s lacrosse bracket expansion to 12 teams, increased golf super regional sizes, increased football bracket size and squad size, increased championship squad sizes in men’s and women’s basketball, and a baseball bracket expansion to 56 teams.
There were also several approvals for increases in officials pay in various sports, and the addition of an “Eagle Eye” video review system for track & field.
The other change that will directly impact swimming: is that teams and individuals located within 600 miles of the championship site will travel via ground transportation, up from 500 miles. This is estimated to save $341,000, which contributed to the increased funding in other areas.
Do NCAA execs fly or take their own car when they travel distances are 200 miles or more? (FYI – 200 miles is about 3 1/2 hours in a car – so I’d bet they fly). Seems like another place to save some money.
Another swim dad here, albeit a psycho one. My inspired comment on that: secret solution is to take to champs meets only short fly and breaststroke swimmers. They do not need much leg room in the bus and they will be fresher than free and back swimmers of other teams. I got some more good ideas but I am busy pushing our girls to swim and telling our boy to give up unless he wants to convert to football.
Just wanted to chime in as a short former butterflyer: the image in my head of a bunch of flyers– short, broad shouldered, and pissed off– crammed in a bus like it’s a clown car is pretty hilarious.
But I’m gonna take your idea one step further: let’s just cut out all non-fly events (excepting the 50 and 100 freestyles) from the sport of swimming. Back and free are okay, but so boring to watch and train. I know you mentioned breaststrokers too, but let’s be honest, it’s not a real stroke. This would have saved me untold amounts of misery growing up. Additionally, by giving breaststroke the axe, you and I would disagree much less frequently :-D. I’ll let… Read more »
Tall butterflier here. Yes, please, eliminate breaststroke. Now, about your joint proposal, I can get behind that…or to the left of it, as it were. In fact, four of my close friends and I will back up the proposal. So you might say….I got five on it.
I am somewhat surprised at the not allowing the additional men’s swimmers, but I am shocked at the 600 mile ground transportation rule. Anyone who has spent 10-12 HOURS in a bus or car, will know that feeling you feel at the end of the trip — stiff and feel miserable.
I have no problem with extending the bracket sizes of the various sports (as essentially that’s what swimming was asking for), but is it necessary to have more volleyball players and men’s/women’s basketball players suit up to ride the pine at a game that’s already being contested? That makes no sense to me. Those teams were already at that level using the resources they have, and I can assure you (knowing teams that have made it that far in those sports) that there were players not playing that were suited up.
Oops, Dean Wormer
In the now famous words of John Blutarsky (God rest his soul)….
Eh, hmmmmm, ********!!!!!!
Sack participating schools within that extra 100 miles to save $350,000, but can’t spare an extra $40,000 to make sure the Men’s D-II NCAA Swimming Championships has a minimum of 16 competitors in every event.
That’s similar to the reasoning behind the Germans bombing Pearl Harbor????
Great work by our universities president’s…I wonder if Faber U’s Dream Wormer headed up that committee??!!??