The NCAA Division III Championship Committee has recommended that the number of participants at winter and spring championships be limited to 75% of their usual capacity due to the restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The recommendation will be presented to several groups within the Division III governance structure, such as the winter and spring sports committees, before the Management and Presidents Councils make a final decision in October.
The committee’s chair and athletic director at Roger Williams, Kiki Jacobs released a statement, saying, “This decision was not made lightly. We concluded this was the best way to provide high-quality championship experiences for student-athletes. Given the obligations to prepare sites and follow the required health protocols, the committee had to make the tough decision to recommend fewer opportunities this year.”
If the capacity limit is implemented, the number of swimmers and divers invited to compete at NCAAs will significantly decrease. Last season, 579 athletes (526 swimmers and 53 divers) qualified to compete at the national championships prior to their cancellation. This included 319 women’s invitees and 260 men’s invitees.
In order to qualify for NCAAs, a swimmer must achieve either an NCAA A-cut or a B-cut, and fall within the invite line. Any swimmer already invited to participate in the meet may also swim any events in which they have achieved an NCAA B-cut. Last season, most women’s events had the invite line fall just outside the top 24, while it fell around the top 16 in the men’s events.
At 75% capacity, presuming the cuts are equally leveled across swimming & diving, the number of qualified athletes last season would have been reduced to 434 athletes (395 swimmers and 39 divers). That would amount to 239 women and 195 men.
The 2020 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championship was canceled because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
This is not about “restrictions”. This is about $. And swimming is going to see more of these cuts at the current rate things are going.
Disappointing news, but Kiki is one of the best people in D3. If she says it’s for the best, it is.
This is roughly the size of the D3 swim invites in the early 90s. The rules community should take a look at how the selection process was done back then, as the current process may not work well with the reduced numbers.
The positive take away here is that the they are making recommendations and trying to figure this out.
Will squad sizes be limited? Otherwise it’ll be a Kenyon/Denison dual meet.
My guess, is that the cuts will be faster and they will draw the line at whatever is 25% less
I think they’ll figure out what that means for each sport once they get everyone on board with the 75%. I’d bet it includes smaller squad sizes, too.
Smaller squad sizes SHOULD have happened years ago at the DI level. There have been many proponents for cost cutting measures which can truly make an impactful difference in the sustainability of our sport…BUT until many such responses are forced upon coaches…they just seem to want what they want no matter the cost. Sad.
everyone sleeping on some legit d3 contenders
aka “the NCAA D3 swimming/diving national budget has shrunk, so we have to invite less”…
Couldn’t they just have a separate meet for the men and women? Like D1 NCAA’s
This makes most sense
“Back in my day…….” we had separate nationals as the normal setup.
If the smaller size is to create a safer COVID environment, yes. If the drive is to save money, separate meets would be worse. If the goal is to save money by showing a safer meet while not admitting this is about money, it’s a PR problem.
One challenge with this would be how small coaching staffs are at most D3 schools. Most teams have joint programs, and many have 3 coaches total (HC, 1 assistant, and a diving coach). Many of the assistant coaches are part time as well. I think those staffs would be in favor of trying to make it work if it allowed more of their athletes to qualify, but it should be considered when discussing separate meets.
Financially that doesn’t help anybody’s situation.
The DIII swimming nationals are already stupidly small. If they do this you’ll see 11-12 invites per event on the men’s side. Is a national championship that potentially can’t even fill out a B final worth it?
Yes. It is.
For those that get to swim it is.
Yes it is worth it. There were quite a few years at Division II NCAA’s where the Men’s selections were limited to 12, 13, 14 selections per event. That didn’t take away from the competition once competing, but did limit a potentially more competitive field. Unfortunately for all, sacrifices will need to be made to ensure long term viability.