The University of West Florida announced in a press conference on Thursday morning that it would make the transition from NCAA Division II to Division I beginning in the upcoming 2026-2027 school year. The women’s swimming and diving program will compete out of the ASUN Conference.
“This transition represents the next chapter in the evolution of our athletics program and a testament to the dedication of our student-athletes, coaches, staff and supporters,” said Dave Scott, the school’s Athletic Director. “As we prepare for Division I competition, we remain focused on building champions for life. We look forward to growing our tradition of success and welcoming our fans and partners to be part of this exciting journey.”
The school’s football program will join the United Athletic Conference while all other sports will compete out of the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN). The school will not be eligible for NCAA postseason tournaments during the next three seasons, meaning for the swim and dive program, they will not be able to send athletes to the NCAA Championship meet. Although they cannot compete at the NCAA Championship meet, they are still eligible to compete for the ASUN conference title. Full NCAA postseason eligibility will begin once the transition process is complete in 2029.
The West Florida women’s swim and dive program captured the 2026 New South Championship team title with 1239 points, finishing over 300 points ahead of 2nd place Delta State. The West Florida women went on to finish 4th at the 2026 Division II NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships with 298.5 points.
Agata Naskret led the team with 56 individual points including NCAA Division II records in the 100 back (50.91) and 200 back (1:52.90). Both of those times would have made the 2026 NCAA cutline at the Division I level, although Naskret just finished her senior season.
The ASUN will was home to nine women’s teams this past season with the Delaware women capturing the conference title with 1627 points. Florida Gulf Coast was 2nd with 1619 points. Notably also in the conference is Queens-North Carolina who was 3rd as a team this past season. Queens made the transition to Division I beginning in 2022 and became a full member in 2025.
The University of West Florida is located in Pensacola, Florida. As of fall 2024, the school was home to 9,959 undergraduates and 4,838 graduates for a total of 14,797 students. About 83% of students are from Florida, and the school is ~61% female and ~39% male.
Much better news than reading about another school eliminating swimming. Now let’s add a mens’s team!
Every school and every situation is different but it seems that the expenses for the Athletic department is normally about $10-$15 million more per year even in D1 vs D2 though it is a gradual increase most of the time and not a big jump in just one year
What is the benefit to swimming to go Div 1?
Maybe they are looking at it from the perspective of football and basketball and the overall ‘feeling’ of D1 vs D2?
Not much other than the “prestige” of being d1. UWF was highly competitive on the d2 swimming scene (consistently a top-10 team nationally. Now they will not be eligible for NCAAs for 3 yrs and after than – will struggle to qualify any swimmers. This is obviously a football decision and swimming is along for the ride.
You are 100% accurate and I know the swimmers are not happy about it. 😖
Add women’s flag football and men’s swimming.
Welcome to the party, Argos!
The 3 year wait period is so dumb
Used to be 4
Different divisions of NCAA have different academic and eligibility requirements. The probationary period allows for those athletes to work their way out of the system while the team conforms to new standards and recruits new members.