SwimSwam Pulse: 50% Oppose Unlimited College Dual Meet Entries, 26% Support

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, or you can find the poll embedded at the bottom of this post.

Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers for their thoughts on a proposed NCAA rule that would allow each athlete unlimited entries in regular-season college duals, triangular and double-dual meets.

RESULTS

Question: Should NCAA swimmers get unlimited entries at dual meets?

  • No – 49.9%
  • Yes – 26.5%
  • Don’t care – 23.6%

About half of voters opposed the rule change. Opening up meets to unlimited entries would almost certainly increase the value of top-level swimmers, who could swim huge event loads and still place highly in most swims. On the flip side, it could strip away some parity from college swimming, with superstar recruits carrying even more value.

On the flip side, 26.5% supported unlimited entries. Some fans have said they’d be excited to see top-level swimmers get to branch out into more events and more crowded schedules in the regular season. It would also create the opportunity for some unprecedented heroics, like winning 6 events en route to a team dual meet win, or swimming five of the last seven events to carry the scoring load for a team.

Meanwhile almost as many voters (23.6%) just didn’t care about this rule change proposal. That group is probably some mix of more internationally-oriented fans who often don’t follow the U.S. NCAA system or yards swimming in general very closely and college swimming fans who don’t put much weight on regular-season and dual-meet outcomes. That second group would appear to include a good number of NCAA coaches, too, as college coaches have generally been very loathe to put much importance on dual meet wins in the past. The rule change would not affect championship meets like conference championships or the NCAA Championships.

 

Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Pollwhich asks voters to pick which of the following three swimmers is most likely to defend their 2016 Olympic titles five years later:

Who has the best shot to defend their 2016 Olympic title?

View Results

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ABOUT A3 PERFORMANCE

A3 Performance is an independently-owned, performance swimwear company built on a passion for swimming, athletes, and athletic performance. We encourage swimmers to swim better and faster at all ages and levels, from beginners to Olympians.  Driven by a genuine leader and devoted staff that are passionate about swimming and service, A3 Performance strives to inspire and enrich the sport of swimming with innovative and impactful products that motivate swimmers to be their very best – an A3 Performer.

The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner

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Crk
3 years ago

I hope that the new poll is not intended to include the most likely to defend their title

Mr Piano
Reply to  Jared Anderson
3 years ago

Ledecky 800 free vs Peaty 100 breast would be an interesting poll

About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though. Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending …

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