SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side.
Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers if short course meters should be implemented in NCAA Championship competition:
Question: Should the NCAA Championships go back to being in short course meters during Olympic years?
RESULTS
- No – 58.1%
- Yes – 23.2%
- SCM all the time – 18.7%
In 2000 and 2004, we saw the NCAA Championships contested in short course meters. After those two experimental years, which included multiple world records being broken, things have returned to the traditional short course yards every season.
Is there an appetite to bringing back SCM to college swimming, at least every once in a while?
Due to the lack of SCM racing in the United States, and the marquee short course meets throughout the year (World Cup, SC World Championships) coinciding with the NCAA schedule, we rarely get to see the top Americans racing in the format.
That changed during the three seasons of the International Swimming League (ISL) from 2019 until 2021, but with the league defunct as far as we know, it’s few and far between we get to see a lot of Americans racing SCM.
Racing the NCAA Championships in short course meters during the Olympic year is a fun idea, but in reality, does the extra ~9% of pool make much of a difference from a long course preparation standpoint? Probably not.
However, every season we see a smattering of comments calling for SCM competition in the NCAA, so we took it to the A3 Performance Poll to see how our readership really feels about it.
The majority said they don’t want to see it, 58%, which was expected given that SCY is the way things have always operated in the U.S., not to mention the massive amount of complications that would come from switching even just one meet to SCM.
Furthermore, would it make sense to race the entire season in SCY only to have the national championship raced in SCM? In Canada, the entire U SPORTS season runs in SCM, and then in certain years, they’ll switch to long course finals for the championship meet, which from the outside looking in makes zero sense.
However, the SCM options still got plenty of love in the poll. More than 23% voted yes, they’d like to see the NCAA Championships be contested in SCM during Olympic years, and a further 18.7% said they’d like to see in SCM all the time.
From a global perspective, the times would mean something to all—when Leon Marchand goes 3:28 in the 400 IM or 1:46 in the 200 breast, anyone not from the U.S. has a hard time putting that into context. If he went 3:52 in the 400 IM or 1:59 in the 200 breast in SCM, it would hold greater significance internationally.
Being the world record holder is more significant to a worldwide audience than being the NCAA and U.S. Open Record holder.
We will see two of the best teams in the NCAA, Virginia and Florida, race in SCM in October, so perhaps the logistical challenges of having NCAAs in SCM aren’t as tough as we think. If it was raced in that format once every four years, teams could plan accordingly and have a few meets in meters throughout the season.
Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks: Which short course world record will be toughest for Leon Marchand to break?
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The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner.
Well they tried this already…in 2000 and 2004 the NCAA Champs was swam in 25meters
“America had changed in many ways, but it had yet to adopt the metric system.”
–Kurt Vonnegut, “Welcome to the Monkey House”
Why not possibly the first half of seasons being optionally SCM, with December Classics as SCM meets? At least for the next few years-decade. NCAA adopts SCM standards. NCAA and conference meets are still SCY, with maybe an SCM session on Sunday. Teams not able to train in 25m can go to a traditional December Classic.
I’d be curious to see the voting further broken down into two groups. Those from the US who swim yards and those from out of the US who don’t. There are a several 25 meter pools in the state (that were converted due to water depth issue 25 yards) and these are not popular places to swim. I’m not sure I have ever heard of a US coach or swimmer wanting to swim 25 meters over 25 yards. I’m sure there’s a few out that but overall it can’t be a popular choice. IMHO.
I actually think Leon would swim the 100 IM over the 200 Fly at SC Worlds.
theres no way. He has a solid chance at the 2 fly WR, he won’t even sniff 49.28
Is that 41.9% number valid? It should have been two separate questions. SCM during NCAA champs in Olympic years? SCM in NCAA all the time (does “all the time” mean all champs meets or ALL meets)?
No. That gives a hugely unfair advantage to schools with a 25 SCM pool to train in.
At the D-1 level, there are few teams that DON’T have the option of converting to 25m. I can think of only a few.
Why not make the FIRST half of the season 25m? January to March 25y. Most teams are shaving in December anyway. Why not have 25m cut times, and possibly a few international records set? All the foreign swimmers in D-1 could get some national records or QT’s for international meets.
Apart from all the other arguments already made against SCM (most colleges don’t have a SCM pool, etc), another reason would be, why not give the Walshes and Douglasses and Marchands of the collegiate world a chance to make some money while breaking WRs? The NCAA is not about to start awarding prize money with bonuses for WRs, and any swimmer with an honest chance to break SCM WRs, like those listed above, will sooner or later find their way into World Cup competitions, where they can be financially rewarded for their records. If I were Gretchen Walsh, I’d far rather be paid when I broke a WR. In fact, I’d be tempted to go the Armand Duplantis route and… Read more »