SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side, or you can find the poll embedded at the bottom of this post.
Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers whether we’ll see more athletes choosing to skip NCAA season next year to prepare for the postponed 2020 Olympics:
RESULTS
Question: Will we see more NCAA athletes taking Olympic redshirts/deferrals or turning pro in 2021 than we did in 2020?
- Yes – 67.4%
- No – 32.6%
Two thirds of voters said they expect even more athletes to sit out the 2020-2021 NCAA season, even after a huge number of redshirts, deferrals, and gap years in 2019-2020.
We had at least 22 major names sit out of the previous NCAA season to prepare for the Olympics. Now that the Olympics have been postponed to 2021, each of those athletes has a difficult choice: to return to NCAA competition or to sit out another year to once again prepare for the Olympics.
The other factor is the excellent group of 2020 high school grads who were slated to join the NCAA next fall. There’s enough international talent in that group (Regan Smith, Alex Walsh, Phoebe Bacon, Olivia Bray, Isabelle Stadden, Emma Weyant, Carson Foster, Luca Urlando, Jake Magahey, etc.) to expect some deferrals as the teenagers chase potential Olympic berths.
Then again, the conundrum might be solved for all of these athletes without needing a decision. There’s the potential that the 2020-2021 NCAA swimming & diving season doesn’t happen, or is extremely compressed. And there’s been rumblings lately that the postponed Tokyo Olympics may not happen at all, with a cancellation much more likely than a second postponement if a coronavirus vaccine can’t be found by next year.
Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks voters if they think the postponed 2021 Olympics will ultimately be canceled, as hinted by authorities this week:
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ABOUT A3 PERFORMANCE
The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner
Makes sense. Myself, I’ve been sitting out since 1992.
I don’t know how smart this is because many Olympic experts believe the games cannot be held if there is not a vaccine developed and able to be widespread enough to hold the games. These college kids might end up redshirting TWICE for no reason.
Can an athlete who already took a redshirt for 2019-2020 season take another for the 2021-22 season?
Broad answer: no. There are always little loopholes here and there, but no.
They can just forgo a year of eligibility, however.
There’s a chance that the NCAA might issue waivers given the extenuating circumstance.
Thats wishful thinking about the waivers. When was the last time the NCAA has been on the side of, or more broadly, supported non-revenue sport athletes?
Only reason they’ve changed stances on the image and likeness issue is because there was so much sustained pressure and it hasnt been from them looking at non-revenue sports. Its what revenue sports would change and that scared them at how much money they would lose. It would be pretty hard to equal that much presence in less than a year for a select few athletes to get another year of eligibility in a sport like swimming.
The last time the NCAA was on the side of/supported non-revenue sport athletes was in 2020 when they gave spring sports (softball, track and field, baseball, etc) their year of eligibility back after being maybe 2-3 weeks into their season
It’s also a response to the increasing amount of top ranked high school basketball players headed pro in the G league or Australia. Imagine if Zion could’ve kept playing? The NCAA wants its headliners to stay and play. Especially with discussions with the NBA players union to eliminate the one year wait to pro, college basketball will lose their stars without letting them get shoe deals