Courtesy of Drew Johansen, Indiana’s head diving coach.
An open letter to NCAA Division 1 swimming and diving athletes, coaches, parents, and fans.
This year’s National Championships is different; we have a different event order, gaps in the evening program that we are not used to, no B-Final, interrupted events, and awards ceremonies at the end of the evening. These were not unforeseen mistakes. There was a lot of forward thinking that went into making these changes. I think it is important to understand the reasons behind these changes from one coach’s point of view.
At last year’s NCAA Championships, coaches convened with the CSCAA and top media professionals to explore ways to make our most significant event of the year available for live TV. The current live stream and delayed broadcast of the NCAA Championships is good for the sport; however, we need to do so much more. We don’t want to restrict our exposure to the American public or hinder the growth of NCAA swimming and diving due to a format that is not friendly to live TV.
This year, we implemented a new format specifically designed to be an exciting live broadcast that can be accommodated within a two-hour time slot on live TV. You can watch a replay of the live broadcast on ESPN in its archives. The broadcast shows the women’s meet concluding with thrilling drama and historic performances. The University of Virginia achieved a dominant sixth consecutive NCAA team title, while Texas and Stanford engaged in an epic battle that ultimately determined second place in the last 2 events of the evening. All along the way, individual national champions and elite performances were celebrated every 10 minutes as each event was contested. It was an incredible show with tremendous storytelling representing multiple schools and conferences that the world should have witnessed live on TV. I recommend you watch the broadcast as it was captured in its live form. This is the ultimate goal of the new format: to be able to tell those stories as the events unfold live on TV.
This broadcast now serves as a proof of concept that we can present to networks to market our product and strengthen our position within our universities, conferences, and the NCAA.
We need to stay aware that the final outcome of the “House Settlement” is yet to be determined. Your daughters, your sons, and our coaches all benefit immensely from the schools, conferences, and the NCAA. We receive career opportunities in coaching, facilities for training. Your children receive scholarships for education, medical care, room, board, and much, much more. However, this support could be jeopardized if we fail to evolve with our schools, conferences, and network partners to enhance the value of the sport that is so passionately supported by the American college system.
In my hotel room now, and I can’t wait to see what kind of live show the men will produce for us this year; it will be hard to beat what the women gave us. I have been fortunate to witness this excitement for 30+ years. If we can get this story told live in a 2-hour show on a major network, it will make the two Olympic sports we love so much (swimming and diving) better for everyone.
Head Diving Coach
Indiana University
If the event is going to be taped and cut, why is there any format change? Especially when it’s a delayed release on ESPN, on a day when there are March madness games being played.
I don’t think I have ever seen the comments section practically 100% in agreement!
Drew,
Diving already is separate from swimming in every other aquatic competition besides US high school. A two hour format without diving would hold the full journey for the athletes we’re looking for. And it wouldn’t sacrifice time for participants who have no overlap, in practice or coaching or specific training.
Split diving. Let it stand on its own. Its own bigger rosters and time for competition. Its own championship, better suited to club and global stages. And let swimming take its own track. From a coaching and expense standpoint, it makes sense. This meet just shows it to all the spectators
Unfortunately, for most dive programs, we need swimming to keep us alive. Otherwise schools will go the route of Virginia and our sport will seriously start to die within the US.
Just listened to the newest Unfiltered waters episode. Here’s what EB said about why B Finals was removed:
They wanted to shorten the broadcast from 3 to 2 hours. They said that if there were B Finals for swimming then there would need to be B finals for diving. They said that if they moved B finals earlier than the diving b finals would conflict the warmups for swimming and the divers would get distracted.
With that being said, if it means we get B Finals back, it might be a good idea for diving and swimming to separate. Or, maybe extend the meet days like they do at conferences and move diving til like Monday and Tuesday.
That’s stupid because divers get 6 chances to determine the winner.
Swimmers only get one shot and they all swim in the same heat at the same time.
Divers don’t get 6 individual chances to determine the winner. It is an accumulation of the 6, phrasing it this way is pretty misleading. Missing or hitting your first dive can be just as critical to the whole 6 dive event as missing a start is to that one specific race.
With the disclosure that I haven’t listened to the podcast, blaming diving B finals for the change doesn’t hold up. Diving B finals were always held before the start of the evening finals and not during the main evening event. During the Diving B finals there were always swimmers in the pools.
Yeah good point.
How much did ESPN pay you to release this statement lol what?
Drew, why do you think this site is called SwimSwam and not DiveDove? Because swim fans want to see swimming and not diving. The horror show that the CSCAA turned the NCAAs into and your letter has solidified for me that the two sports should be separated.
Amazing coincidence that when your preferred sport is elevated at the expense of the sport that keeps it afloat you thought it went well 👍
From the dive side, very much not a fan of the new format. I know there are at least a small handful of power 4 coaches who would agree.
Um dude. No one turned off March madness for this. And if they did, prove it with the stream numbers. Otherwise stop telling us how sweet something smells when it clearly does not. The meet was dead. The crowd was dead except when chanting bring back B. The money you seek is in AD pockets, not in ESPN pockets. Even if you move the meet out from under March Madness it still doesn’t work. Don’t pretend it did.