The NCAA Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Rules Committee met virtually during the second week of May and has proposed a few rule changes for the upcoming 2021-22 season, which will need approval by the NCAA Playing Oversight Panel.
The proposals made by the Committee include a clarification on the number of officials needed to conduct a meet and adjusting the wording regarding what constitutes a bona fide competition.
Number of Officials
The committee has recommended allowing relief in regards to the number of officials required to conduct a competition in the event that the number falls below the minimum amount required due to unforeseen circumstances. This would require approval from all coaches whose teams are competing in the meet.
Currently, a dual meet requires two officials, and an invitational meet requires four.
Bona Fide Competitions
The Committee proposes that the wording be adjusted in regards to what constitutes a bona fide competition for USA Swimming and USA Diving meets. Bona fide meets must be on a school’s schedule in order to allow qualifying times be achieved in all events.
The NCAA release says that the intent of this proposal is to “ensure that participation in designated USA Swimming and USA Diving meets takes place while representing the school.”
In other words, if a competition isn’t published on a school’s official schedule, it can’t be used for NCAA qualification.
The following criteria must be met to be a bona fide competition
- The competition “must be between two or more teams of the same gender from different collegiate schools and at the same time and site. An example where this rule came into play was back in March of 2018, when the East Carolina men’s team had two swimmers, Gustavo Santos and Jacek Arentewicz, score NCAA qualifying times at the Liberty Last Chance Meet. However, East Carolina was the only men’s team in attendance, and the swims ultimately did not count towards NCAA qualification.
- In order to be a bona fide meet that is sanctioned or approved by USA Swimming and USA Diving, it also must follow NCAA rules and regulations.
- The proposal also includes a specification that select USA Swimming and USA Diving meets may be designated each year by all three NCAA Divisions to allow achievement of time standards, consideration time standards, and optional-entry standards. This would include meets like U.S. Nationals, FINA World Championships and the Pro Swim Series.
Other Proposals
The committee also recommended the following proposals (from the NCAA release):
- Permit the use of kinesiology tape for divers during competition.
- Standardize the size and distance of pool lines on the bottom of the pool in new facilities to match USA Swimming and FINA rules. Specifically, the T painted at the bottom of the pool would be 2 meters (about 6½ feet) from the end wall, not the current 5 feet.
- Allow divers one practice forward approach or one back takeoff approach before the start of the diving competition if a separate diving well is not used.
Radio silence on the lackadaisical officiating at last chance meets and time trials… Radio silence on the need for electronic relay exchange monitoring at last chance meets and time trials… Until the rules committee takes action, the cheating will continue and deserving athletes will continue to get bumped from the NCAA championships.