How Can College Swimming Grow and Protect Itself in Fast-Changing NCAA Landscape? Interview with CSCAA Executive Director Samantha Barany
Between the dawn of the NIL era of collegiate sports, the impact of the Transfer Portal, changing conference landscapes and financial concerns, there are questions about the future of college swimming. How the sport moves forward will be a key for its survival and ability to thrive.
As part of a multi-part feature series that will address the future of college swimming and discuss its state with stakeholders, Swimming World engaged in a Q&A with Samantha Barany, the Executive Director of the College Swimming Coaches Association of America. Barany weighed in on the future of college swimming and what needs to be done to ensure its success as an outlet for thousands of athletes and a significant developmental base for the Olympic Games.
Swimming World: What is the current state of college swimming in this New World of collegiate sports?
Samantha Barany: In one word—vulnerable. Schools and athletic directors are under intense pressure to compete, and being competitive (primarily in football and basketball) is more costly than ever before. Swimming and diving must elevate as a sport and build their value for athletic directors and institutions to remain a healthy presence on college campuses.
SW: What are the biggest concerns facing college swimming in the months ahead?
SB: I believe the biggest challenge is generating positive momentum around what a new model of collegiate swimming and diving can look like. We must be willing to change and evolve. Our sport comprises many subgroups, and each has a role to play in shaping the solution. Moving forward, we will need to work both independently and collectively. For example, Division III can address opportunities that Division I cannot, and diving will require specific attention separate from swimming, and vice versa.Our non-NCAA teams play a unique role in keeping collegiate swimming strong and providing opportunities for high school athletes transitioning to the next level. If we all commit to taking meaningful steps forward, I believe we can meet this challenge and secure the future of our sport at every level within a stronger, more unified collegiate system.
SW: How can college swimming position itself favorably moving forward? What can be done to avoid program/budget cuts? What changes need to happen?
SB: As we look to the future the best thing we can do is evolve. For too long we’ve approached the college sport and season the same way. Thinking new and moving forward with purpose is mission-critical.
Being great partners with athletic directors, university presidents, and our communities is at the heart of this evolution. While we may not always have the ability to prevent budget cuts—those decisions often come with many layers—we can focus on spending smarter and finding innovative ways to generate income.
SW: What do coaches need to do to promote the sport and enhance its growth in the college realm?
SB: The goalposts have moved for our coaches. The responsibility to develop great swimmers and divers is no longer the sole mission of a head coach. Today, the role requires so much more—storytelling, marketing, and fundraising have become critical components of the job.
These added responsibilities present both challenges and opportunities. They allow us to amplify the incredible impact of our programs, connect with our communities, and secure the resources needed to thrive in an increasingly competitive landscape.
SW: What do Athletic Directors need to realize about swimming in terms of its importance as a college sport? How can they be convinced that the sport’s role is vital?
SB: Safeguarding Olympic and broad-based sports on college campuses is critical. However, swimming and diving must also demonstrate a bigger return to the decision makers on campus when compared to other sports that are not net-positive. Our coaches should know the value of their team and be able to articulate it in an elevator pitch to anyone at any time.
Just like every other industry, it’s time to reimagine and evolve our product to draw more “users”—whether they are fans, supporters, or future champions of the sport.
SW: How can Olympic sports bond together to navigate this new environment? Is the bonding approach necessary, or have we reached an everyone-for-themselves moment?
SB: We are advocating on behalf of every college team, coach, and athlete. Whether it’s attending NCAA meetings, engaging with conference offices, or collaborating directly with campuses, the CSCAA is at the table. We’re also in Washington, D.C., bringing energy, education, and a unified voice to ensure that swimming and diving have a future.
This is a pivotal time for our sport. The CSCAA is committed to leading these efforts, but success depends on the collective energy, passion, and advocacy of everyone involved.
One positive change I would like to see is a requirement of real-time posting of team scores after each event at dual meets. I don’t care if it is on a chalkboard or whiteboard. Value is generated by fans, but how can the sport of swimming attract new fans to the sport if no one knows the score until the end? Also, the scoring reporting system needs to be more clear when a meet is won. Consider match play golf: any observer of match play golf can understand that if one player is up by an amount greater than the # of holes left over the other player that the match is technically over at that point. I’m not suggesting the swim meet stops once one team has locked up the win. There just sometimes comes a point in a meet when one team is up by so much that even if the other team goes 1-2-3 in the remaining events, it won’t be enough to win. It should be clear when this happens.
There are no changes proposed. A lot of skirting the issue…
Does the NCAA emphasis on SC Yards place the USA at a disadvantage when competing internationally in long course?
Perhaps, but who cares? The primary purpose of college swimming is not to provide training for the 25 or so American Olympians that are also college students. And, perhaps not because there have been plenty of swimmers that were not international caliber when they were 18, but improved to that level under the current system.
International events have been in meters forever; college swimming has been in yards forever. Team USA continues to be the most dominant international program. Most of Team USA’s athletes are or have been college swimmers. What’s the disadvantage?
I would think that the NCAA should develop rules to help make sure that the revenue generating sports can’t hoard all of the funds. It’s really not good for Football to be literally the only sport at the collegiate level. Unfortunately the NCAA and college football has changed from being an extracurricular activity that students participate in, into just a semi-professional sporting business for the colleges to engage in. To some extent we’ve lost our perspective on what college sports are all about.
If it’s not already, the NCAA is well on its way to becoming irrelevant. College athletics is going to be run by the B1G and the SEC, and because of the money involved, football will only increasingly dominate the future of college athletics. It’s a sad fact (I wish it weren’t), but it just is and the NCAA won’t have a thing to say about it. I think the focus should be on how to re-think the Olympic sports at the college level. Wish I had great ideas, but innovation is the only thing that will save college sports like swimming.
ESPN+ is broadcasting several NCAA Swim Meets,
Watching ESPN this weekend and seeing an “upset Alert” pop up had me switching over to that college basketball game closing minutes.
Why not for Swim Meets?
A ticker alert to watch an upset or new pool/team/conference record running on primary ESPN broadcast would generate awareness and tune in…
The simplest thing to increase interest in college swimming would be annual dual meet(s) against your rival college(s). There are plenty of students that would be interested in seeing their school try to beat a rival. And, the scoring in dual meets is simple and easy for anyone to understand. If you don’t have a scoreboard that shows the score after each race, you can announce it. Just make sure not to schedule the meet at the same time as a football game or home basketball game.
This would not solve all the problems that college swimming has, but it’s a small step forward.
Sam Barany is a weak leader, just like Greg Earhart before her. They’re both self-interested and afraid to give coaches the hard truth. The CSCAA either needs an overhaul or to go away – it has outlived its usefulness.