2026 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships
- Wednesday, March 18 – Saturday, March 21, 2026
- McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta, GA
- Defending Champions: Virginia (5x)
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The fans have spoken at the 2026 Division I Women’s NCAA Championships as the chant “bring back Bs” could be heard throughout the air during Friday night’s finals session.
This is not the first time that fans in attendance at Georgia Tech this week have voiced their opinion on the absence of the ‘B’ final as on Wednesday night, fans booed when it was announced over the loudspeaker the change with the new format. The chants continued for over a minute on Friday, with most of the stands joining in as well as some of the athletes on deck.
In addition to the fans voicing their opinion, last night’s athlete interviews also had athletes bringing up the removal of ‘B’ finals. NCAA Champion in the 100 fly Torri Huske of Stanford said “Obviously, not having B Finals is the biggest bummer” while NCAA Champion in the three relays so far Claire Curzan of Virginia said, “I really missed having them there”
The lack of ‘B’ final has arguably been the biggest change that the swimming community has been frustrated with. ‘B’ finals are now being scored with the top 9-16 swimmers from prelims, rather than giving them another swim during the finals session.
The absence of the ‘B’ final is an attempt to make the swimming and diving championships more broadcast friendly, making it a quicker session. Other changes that relate to this include awards being at the end of the night, a shorter diving session, and a new event lineup.
You can contact the CSCAA (College Swimming Coaches Association) at [email protected]
They are the ones directly responsible for the decision to abandon B finals. I have written them and encourage all others to send a quick email to let them know of your disappointment in their decisions and leadership of our sport.
I have watched National meets with B finals (run right before the A) where only the A finals were used for the broadcast.
Almost everything could have remained the same as years prior, to produce the same broadcast, by just ignoring the B swims on their coverage. Shame
The CSCAA Executive Board (Arthur Albiero, Mandy DiSalle, Rachel Stratton-Mills, Matt Crispino, Matt Barany) and Executive Director Samantha Barany owe us a direct response. Not a press release. Not a forward-looking statement about next steps.
The original stated goals were clear: a faster, more broadcast-friendly championship that grows the sport. What we’ve watched all week has fallen short of that in ways well beyond this new format. No lighting designed to build atmosphere, no music, no production work to create momentum before a race. No narrative arcs, no storytelling, nothing to orient a new fan or reward a die-hard one. The athletes are delivering performances that deserve a stage. The stage is not holding up its end. Despite some of… Read more »
These athletes are showcasing their final work of art and it deserves to be seen. It feels like this committee turned in a first draft of a term paper when planning these changes. From lighting, audio, use of dead time, energy levels, lack of on screen splits, graphics not highlighting athletes lanes…….complete garbage. Even the commentators seemed to be directed to push the positive aspect of these changes on the fans, but I am sure they feel like they are now on an island. I can’t believe the best they can do for prelims is a fixed camera with a warped view positioned up in the jet stream! On top of this, we expect this production of changes to rival… Read more »
I was in the arena. The chant began from team sections in the stands and was quickly joined by the swimmers themselves. It was loud and impressive although my estimate was less than a minute. At full blast it was certainly less than a minute.
The basic problem was evident from the people seated on either side of me. They had no idea what was being chanted. I had to decipher the words and their meaning.
At that point, both parties agreed there should be an opportunity for 9-16 to swim again. But it was quickly set aside and never mentioned again. We enjoyed the remainder of the session.
You make some of the weirdest comments I’ve seen on here
Dude, just stop your posting. You are completely on an island, and were apparently enclosed in a glass booth during your supposed “attendance” at this meet. Those of us actually at the meet know how full of crap you are with your BS anecdotes. The chants were constant, and the athletes were either joining in or filming the crowd with their phones. It was THE topic of conversation at the meet, from both athletes and fans. How anyone could miss that I don’t know. Yes, great swimmers were also swimming, and winning and losing in each race. Congrats, or something, for pointing that out.
Just another way to kill our athletes development. Swimmers needing the extra experience to grow and become better are being robbed of that opportunity. Completely short sighted decision!
B finals also give more rest to athletes doing multiple events.
The ESPN television executive who sanctioned the format changes should be fired and blacklisted.
Good for the fans!!! 👏👏👏