The 2023 ISCA Open, hosted at Liberty University, has been approved as an NCAA Championship qualifying meet. The event will run from November 29-December 2.
Because the meet will combine collegiate swimmers with non-collegiate swimmers, it requires special permission from the NCAA Division I Committee to allow it for NCAA Championship qualifying under a new rule that went into effect this year. The committee has been generous with awarding approved status so far, with the US Open, Pan American Games, World Championships, and USA Diving National Championships receiving special permission to mix levels so far.
The meet was previously approved as a qualifying event for the 2024 World Aquatics Championships, though it is not a qualifying event for the 2024 Olympic Games, which will undermine the value of the former designation.
The ISCA Open is one of at least two winter long course meets that have popped up to help handle the overflow from the US Open meet, which filled up in somewhere between 3 hours and 3 days, depending on who you ask. The other is the Almost Heaven Invite at West Virginia University, which is designated for collegiate teams only and thus doesn’t need special dispensation to count for NCAA qualifying.
While the NCAA has allowed long course conversions to yards this year, realistically, the conversion factors are stiff to the point where there will likely be a very small subset of swimmers who can hit the long course qualifying time but not the short course qualifying time. Still, converted times could impact seeding, and more importantly is a big chance for many collegiate swimmers, who will have to focus on short course in the spring, to hit their Olympic Trials qualifying times.
The designation as qualifying meet for 2024 Olympics can’t affect many people can it? Any country that has a Trials scheduled wouldn’t matter
Lots of countries don’t have Trials meets, and they use big meets in other countries (often in the US) to get their standards, be the fastest Universality swimmer in their country, etc. Many of those swimmers are based in the US, UK, and Australia.
Somewhat related – the meet entries for PSS Knoxville were open for about 15 minutes before they closed them due to reaching the entry cap.
Braden- is the scramble for LC meets for college swimmers always an issue during an Olympic Trials year? I don’t seem to remember this in prior years..
Honestly, Covid could’ve impacted travel and meet entry in 2021. More teams might have been local and just fortunate to be competing. I definitely do not remember this in 2016 though.
I don’t remember it in prior years. Of course 2021, it was just “get what you can,” but 2016 wasn’t this way. It seems like “race LC in an Olympic year” is becoming the en vogue thing again. Could be an interesting topic for a podcast…
I blame Australia?