The NCAA has approved the use of long course qualifying times for the 2024 NCAA Division I Swimming & Diving Championships, changing policies ahead of a complicated year for swimmers that include a winter World Championship meet and an Olympic Games.
From the NCAA DI Swimming & Diving Committee:
The committee discussed and approved the use of 50-meter racing courses to achieve time standards, consideration standards and optional-entry standards for the 2024 Division I Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships. The committee noted that times achieved in 50-meter racing courses must adhere to Rule 9 (bona fide competition requirements) and will be converted to an equivalent time for a 25-yard racing course in order to select and seed swimming participants during the 2023-24 regular season. The committee directed staff to add the long-course conversion factors chart to the 2024 Division I Men’s and Women’s Qualifying Standards.
The committee has approved long course qualifying from the USA Swimming National Championships (the US Open from November 29-December 2) and the World Aquatics Championships (February 2-18). They have also approved the USA Diving National Championships, which implies that divers will be able to qualify for NCAA Zone Championships from either US Nationals or the World Championships.
The 2024 World Championships, which have been jammed in to the pre-Olympic calendar after Fukuoka was unprepared to host a championships in 2022, will conflict with collegiate conference championship season. That will leave many athletes, a few representing Team USA and more representing other countries, to make a choice between conference championship meets and the World Championships.
While many will still have that choice to make, at a minimum, this will allow them to qualify from long course out of Worlds or US Nationals, which could be important to their Olympic qualifying cycles.
There is no good record of what conversions were allowed in what years, but anecdotal evidence indicates that long course conversions have been allowed in the past – especially in, for example, 1992, when the US Olympic Trials were in early March, before the NCAA Championships.
The NCAA Championship committee determines NCAA qualifying, but NCAA Swimming & Diving rules books have long contained long course conversion factors, though those conversions are labeled as “sample conversion tables.” Those conversions have been tweaked slightly over time.
Sample Table for LCM Conversions from the NCAA Rules Book:
The NCAA has allowed short course meters conversions to the NCAA Championships from certain meets for a while, though only from bona fide competitions and other approved meets. In the 2010s, there was a tightening on the “other approved meets,” especially as it related to international competition. In general, short course meters conversions have been favorable relative to yards swims.
The NCAA also recently approved new rules relating to bona fide meets and not allowing non-collegiate swimmers in the same heats as college swimmers. While that seems to be at odds with these rules, it appears as though the Committee is going to make an exception to those new rules for “other approved meets.”
The NCAA has not yet released the yards standards for the 2024 NCAA Championships either.
Long course swimming and short course swimming are practically different sports. I don’t see how they can get this right.
Frankly, if they have a time from worlds, they’d probably score at NCAA anyway. If they have don’t make the worlds team, they can swim conference meets. And many top-level swimmers may sit out an NCAA season, the Worlds selection, or both (though any opportunity to swim LCM against your competition is a plus).
How do these conversions compare to the two conversion tools that are available in SwimSwam? I’m assuming the NCAA Championship Committee will not be releasing their conversions for a while. I need to decide how I’m going to track LC NCAA dual meets.
Don’t like this — lots of great LC swimmers will take NCAAs away from short course specialists.
Just wait to see how many top end folks end up taking an Olympic exception – both foreign and domestic. It happens every cycle.
In a perfect world, I like this. But, can we get a comparison article discussing these conversion factors vs. others (swimswam, FINA points, etc.) before passing judgement?
Exactly.
What is the goal of this rule? Does the NCAA want to prevent red shirts for actual olympic hopefuls? Or do they want to give the average NCAA swimmer the opportunity to qualify for trials? The goal needs to be clear. If the former, fine – that makes sense. If the latter, then they are diminishing the quality of the NCAA season b/c it will encourage kids who are better at long course to skip mid seasons or league meets and reward some kids for doing that with a trip to NCAAs who may not otherwise be able to qualify.
If this is simply to alleviate some pressure for realistic olympians – then that is fine, but the conversion factor… Read more »
I’m hoping it means some of the mid-season invitationals will be LCM to allow swimmers to get additional racing practice in LCM.
Back in 2004, they held NCAAs as SCM because it was an Olympic year. I think they’re just trying to still figure out the best way to handle the overlapping schedules.
It would be cool if someone did a breakdown of the times it took to qualify for the 2023 NCAA Championships and what that converts to with these LCM conversion factors
Once they confirm the conversion factors, we will for sure do that.
Not sure I like this. So LCM times are converted to SCY and the same process for cut lines are used? Seems to introduce a lot of risk that people on the right/wrong side of the cut line are there because of the time conversion factor used. If the conversion factor isn’t accurate, then a slower LCM swim might knock out a faster SCY swim.
This is: Dumb. this is coming from someone who was a way better LC swimmer, particularly in the 200 Fly (endurance good, UWs bad). someone like myself would have a chance of making NCs in LC but no chance SC. Why should I take a spot from someone way faster in the course the meet is actually in?
Greater good, I guess?
Maybe the NCAA National Championships should be in LCM, just like the rest of the world, so we wouldn’t be wasting our time with SCY.