Over the past few weeks, major colleges and college conferences have either postponed fall sports, or announced plans to move forward with sports amid the coronavirus pandemic.
While swimming & diving remains a winter sport at the college level, fall sports cancellations will impact swimming in several ways. First, some conferences (most notably the Pac-12) have suspended competition in all sports for the fall semester. That means swimming & diving teams will not be able to compete in their traditional fall dual meets and mid-season invites. Most other conferences haven’t officially declared if their fall sport postponements will apply to fall competitive seasons for swimming & diving.
Second, football is a key piece in college athletics, driving revenue for many college athletic departments. Changes to the fall football season could cause schools to make other financial decisions impacting non-revenue sports like swimming & diving.
Third, decisions on fall sports will set some level of precedent for winter and eventually spring sports. If the pandemic worsens or stays the same, fall sport postponements may be extended to winter sports.
With that said, we’re tracking every Division I swimming conference for decisions on fall sports. These decisions don’t always directly apply to swimming & diving – the links in the chart below will take you to our full reports with more specific information to each conference.
Conferences could still change course, as well. But this list is as up-to-date as possible based on information we know as of today, August 13.
Where Division I Swimming Conferences Stand on Fall Sports As of August 13
| Keeping Fall Sports In the Fall As of Now | Canceling/Postponing Fall Sports | ||
| Moving forward with fall seasons | ACC | Big Ten | Postponed fall sports, possibility of playing in the spring |
| Moving forward with fall seasons | Big 12 | Pac-12 | Postponed all sports (including swimming) competition to at least January 1. Possibility of playing fall sports in spring |
| Moving forward with fall seasons | SEC | MAC | Postponed fall sports, possibility of playing in the spring |
| Moving forward with fall seasons | AAC | MWC | Postponed all sports competition (including swimming), possibility of playing in spring. (Air Force exempt from postponement) |
| Planning to play but continuing to evaluate | C-USA | Patriot League | Postponed fall sports (except Army & Navy), possibility of playing in the spring |
| No competition before October 1 | Horizon League | Ivy League | Postponed fall sports, possibility of playing in the spring |
| No changes to season announced – several fall sport championships still scheduled | MVC | Summit League | Postponed fall sports, possibility of playing in the spring |
| WAC | Postponed fall sports to at least January 1, winter sports to at least October | ||
| Big East | Postponed fall sports, possibility of playing in the spring | ||
| CAA | Postponed football, no word on other fall sports | ||
| NEC | Postponed all fall sports | ||
| America East | Postponed fall sports, possibility of playing in the spring | ||
| A-10 | Postponed fall sports, possibility of playing in the spring | ||
| MAAC | Postponed fall sports, possibility of playing in the spring | ||
| MPSF | Postponed men’s water polo (the conference’s only fall sport), possibility of playing in winter or spring | ||
*The CCSA (or Coastal Collegiate Sports Association) does not sponsor any fall sports.
This is BS – Why are we doing this to our sports, schools, country and church???
The rest of the conferences need to give up this false hope. It would be easier on the athletes if they’d cancel now and allow them some time to figure out what they’re going to do instead of waiting until last minute to cancel. Before I’m attacked I am an athlete and was training for NCAAs in March when everything got canceled the first time so I’ve been through this already I’m not some random fan with an opinion.
I’m sorry for the stress you are experiencing. You are not alone. The rest of the country is waiting with you wondering what’s next. Everyone was doing something in March when Nearly everyone’s life got turned upside down. People who make these decisions might actually be trying their best to do what they think will be the right path. But this is new Territory for everyone and any decision is going to have unknown repercussions. It may be many months before we know the best way to live with Covid. My advice is take care of yourself in all ways possible and try to be kind and understanding with coaches and administrators as no one is really at fault here… Read more »