Collegiate swim teams have long touted their superior grade point averages and now they're asking to be rewarded with a change in the 20/8-hour rule. That discussion, along with last chance meets, divisional rules and time standards highlighted last month's NCAA Swimming and Diving committee meetings.

Playing & Practice Seasons
The CSCAA and USA Swimming presented a case that the practice restrictions inhibit the development of collegiate swimmers and divers. Under the 20/8-hour rule, student athletes in Divisions I and II are limited to twenty hours of athletically-related activities in season and eight hours during the designated off-season. The legislation was adopted in 1991 to reduce the amount of required time students spend on athletically related activities enabling them to devote more time to academics and allow them to enjoy a more complete college experience. In San Diego the case was made that this rule limits the success of both swimmers and the United States on an international stage.

To justify a modification to the training limits, it was proposed that the amount of permissible training time be tied to student-athlete grade-point averages. Those student-athletes demonstrating superior performance in the classroom (and thus an ability to balance the rigors of academic and athletic life), would be permitted to exceed the current restrictions. CSCAA Executive Director Phillip Whitten, following a July conversation with the NCAA president, introduced a change in the by-laws to increase the post-season 8-hour training limit to 20 hours, contingent upon the student's maintence of a minimum 2.75 GPA.

While hard data on the academic success of swimmers vis-à-vis other sports is limited, the newly-created Academic Progress Rate (APR) shows that swimmers do exceedingly well in their progress towards graduation. In the first year the APR was calculated men’s swimming trailed gymnastics and hockey in terms of academic progress while women’s swimming ranked fourth behind field hockey, lacrosse, gymnastics and tied with ice hockey.

The The NCAA News noted the comments of USA Swimming’s Mark Schubert. Schubert, who retired from coaching at Southern Cal this spring, told the committee of a “crisis” in collegiate swimming and taking time off of the sport is disadvantageous to the student athlete.

Committee Chair John Lyons of LaSalle University appeared to deflect the issue by noting that the topic was a topic for the NCAA at large. “Our committee is charged with administering the championship meets and determining playing rules, not with addressing NCAA playing-and-practice-season issues,” Lyons told the NCAA News, not the swimming and diving committee which administers the championships and competition rules. Unlike several sports, swimming does not have separate rules and championships committees. Skip Foster, assistant to the athletics director at Florida will replace Lyons as committee chair in September.

The topic has been a headed one since its implementation 15-years ago. The rule was hailed by its creators as a benchmark against the encroachment of athletics on student life, but has come under fire for its lax enforcement. Separately, the NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, the Knight Foundation, Departing NCAA President Cedric Dempsey, NCAA Division I Board of Directors and NCAA Division I Management Council have all called for tighter enforcement of the rules. An unscientific poll on CollegeSwimming.com in April 2005 asked collegiate swimmers if their programs violated the 8-hour springtime restriction. Of the eight-hundred plus votes cast, nearly two-thirds of respondents indicated that their team exceeded the training limits.

Last-Chance Meets
The committee also voted to drastically reduce the number of last-chance meet opportunities available to programs. This resulted out of a widespread desire to regulate the meets further. In the annual rules survey a large portion of the membership sought to eliminate the meets altogether, however the momentum hit a roadblock among coaches at this year’s CSCAA convention. Beginning in 2008 only five meets per gender will be sanctioned, with these meets distributed according to the five current diving zones. In doing so the committee also eliminated the four-team minimum of such meets, a minimum which will likely prove unnecessary considering the reduction in opportunities. It also eliminated the loophole that enabled Division I teams to qualify at Division II or III last-chance meets, though Division II and III schools will still be permitted to qualify at Division I last chance meets.

At the Division III level there was an elimination of the two-day restriction, and an increase in the required number of certified officials from two to four.

A Co-Ed Meet for Division III?
Aside from training restrictions, which do not affect Division III institutions, the other hot topic was the prospect of a combined men’s and women’s championship for Division III beginning in 2009. With a concern that a combined championship will be imposed on the Division by the NCAA the committee will be seeking input from administrators and coaches to determine if the membership favors a combined championship and whether it should follow a three- or four-day format. The topic is a contentious one with several teams seeking to hold onto the distinctiveness of the two meets. Several coaches of women’s teams have expressed concern over the prospect of men’s swimming overshadowing the women’s meet. Proponents of the idea cite the fact that fewer then ten Division III programs offer separate men’s and women’s coaching staffs. They feel that separate programs place men’s teams at a disadvantage because of the absence of head coaches who are attending the women’s championship. Other considerations include the comparatively limited number of facilities capable of handling such a meet and the impact of the championship budget on the current cap of 270 men and 325 women. Division III also moved to appoint officials for the 2007 championships in Houston while also moving to select future officials from an applicant poll instead of by appointment.

Division II, which has always offered a combined championship, will continue to not require relay takeoff pads at their national championship meet. The committee however made an official recommendation that future championship hosts acquire the pads. It is not known whether this decision make it even tougher for Division II, which currently hosts the largest (in participants) and longest (four-day) NCAA swimming championship, to attract host sites. That question will be answered as the committee solicits bids for the 2008, 2009, and 2010 championships.

Revised Default Program
The entire committee also moved to revise the default men’s dual meet program. The move, which goes onto the Playing Rules Oversight Panel for approval, eliminates a discrepancy between the men’s and women’s default programs. The women’s program is a 16-event default program that includes the 100-yard stroke events. The men’s meet, however, defaulted to a 13-event program.

Most dual meet orders are constructed by agreement of both home and visiting coaches. This matches with the criteria of an administrative rule which can be changed by mutual agreement of the coaches. The committee, however, sought to make the rule a conduct rule, which cannot be altered in order to, “Eliminate any jockeying that may exist in altering the rules to help with qualification and ensure the integrity of the meet and the sport” according to Lyons.  This would include such things as separating relays by open lanes, or placing a towel on the starting block.  

The committee further worked to streamline the rules between FINA and USA Swimming rules. The 2006-07 rule book will update language about the start and turns in freestyle, backstroke, and butterfly. Previously the NCAA rule called for the leading part of the head to break the surface prior to the 15-meter mark. The revised rule will allow for any part of the head to break the surface of the water prior to the 15m mark.

2006-07 NCAA Division I Proposed Time Standards
	Men's		Womens
EVENT	A Standard	B Standard	A Standard	B Standard
50 Freestyle	:19.60	:20.18	:22.75	:23.43
100 Freestyle	:43.35	:44.65	:49.49	:50.97
200 Freestyle	1:35.09	1:37.94	1:47.09	1:50.30
500 Freestyle	4:18.59	4:26.34	4:45.46	4:54.02
1,650 Freestyle	15:05.87	15:33.04	16:23.54	16:53.04
100 Butterfly	:47.09	:48.50	:53.75	:55.36
200 Butterfly	1:44.93	1:48.07	1:58.99	2:02.55
100 Backstroke	:47.43	:48.85	:54.47	:56.10
200 Backstroke	1:44.02	1:47.14	1:57.79	2:01.32
100 Breaststroke	:53.60	:55.20	1:01.70	1:03.55
200 Breaststroke	1:57.29	2:00.80	2:13.65	2:17.65
200 Individual Medley	1:46.09	1:49.27	2:00.52	2:04.13
400 Individual Medley	3:46.89	3:53.69	4:15.63	4:23.29
200 Freestyle Relay	1:18.47	1:20.82	1:31.01	1:33.74
400 Freestyle Relay	2:54.21	2:59.43	3:18.95	3:24.91
800 Freestyle Relay	6:26.08	6:37.66	7:10.49	7:23.40
200 Medley Relay	1:26.52	1:29.11	1:39.49	1:42.47
400 Medley Relay	3:11.96	3:17.71	3:38.02	3:44.56
2006-07 NCAA Division II Time Standards
	Men		Women
EVENT	A Standard	B Standard	A Standard	B Standard
50 Freestyle	:20.89	:21.51	:24.09	:24.81
100 Freestyle	:45.69	:47.06	:52.49	:54.06
200 Freestyle	1:41.09	1:44.12	1:53.99	1:57.41
500 Freestyle	4:34.49	4:42.72	5:03.39	5:12.49
1000 Freestyle		9:48.09		10:48.09
1,650 Freestyle	15:59.29	16:28.07	17:30.89	18:02.42
100 Butterfly	:50.29	:51.80	:57.29	:59.01
200 Butterfly	1:52.39	1:55.76	2:07.79	2:11.62
100 Backstroke	:51.09	:52.62	:58.49	1:00.24
200 Backstroke	1:51.19	1:54.53	2:06.29	2:10.09
100 Breaststroke	:57.39	:59.11	1:05.69	1:07.66
200 Breaststroke	2:05.99	2:09.77	2:22.49	2:26.76
200 Individual Medley	1:53.39	1:57.00	2:08.25	2:12.24
400 Individual Medley	4:30.99	4:11.72	4:33.09	4:41.59
200 Freestyle Relay	1:23.49		1:37.09
400 Freestyle Relay	3:05.59		3:33.09
800 Freestyle Relay	6:51.79		7:43.69
200 Medley Relay	1:33.19		1:48.14
400 Medley Relay	3:24.99		3:56.49