SwimSwam Pulse: Separating Swimming & Diving, Combining Men & Women Voted Top Future NCAA Changes

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 which change to the NCAA Championship format they support the most:

Question: Which future NCAA Championship change would you support if you had to pick one?

RESULTS

• Completely separate swim & dive championships – 38.5%
• Combined men’s and women’s championship – 26.5%
• Add 50s of stroke – 21.0%
• Expand scoring (top 24) – 9.5%
• One semester season – 2.7%
• Add team diving – 1.7%

There’s been a lot of deliberation on the format of the NCAA Championships in the aftermath of the men’s meet wrapping up the season in late March, and while bringing back ‘B’ finals is one area that nearly everyone can agree on, the CSCAA floated several other future changes in a survey sent to Division I coaches earlier this month.

In our latest poll, we asked SwimSwam readers which change to the NCAA Championship format they would back if they had to select one, and leading the way with 38.5% of votes was separating swimming and diving.

A big complaint from many viewers at NCAAs this year was how much of the finals session was taken up by diving events, and separating the two is clearly something swim fans want to see, which would also open the door for the consolation finals to return in the evening.

If this were to come to fruition, it would likely mean holding the diving events earlier in the week, and having them still apply to the team scoring race.

The option with the second-most votes was combining the men’s and women’s championships, which is the format used in Division II and Division III and what we see at the majority of the Power conference championship meets, outside of the Big Ten (and previously Pac-12).

Combining the men and women would ease travel costs for programs, create more camaraderie between men’s and women’s teams for each school, and, for fans, it would make for a more action-packed week of racing compared to the current model, which sees the events strung out over two weeks.

These two being the top selections from the fans is echoed by the coaches, as 67% were in favor of a combined championship with diving first in the CSCAA survey.

The other vote that earned more than 10% of votes was adding the stroke 50 events to the schedule, which earned 21%.

Though the 50 back, breast and fly races aren’t officially recognized for records in short course yards, the addition of them to the Olympic schedule in 2028 could be a reason why many are in favor of adding them to the NCAA Championship schedule.

Of note, 46% of coaches are in favor of adding stroke 50s.

USA Swimming added National Age Group Records in the stroke 50 events for the 15-16 and 17-18 age groups in long course meters last year, following the Olympic announcement, but notably did not do so in short course yards.

Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks: Will Australia sweep the freestyle events at the Commonwealth Games?

 Loading ...

ABOUT A3 PERFORMANCE

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