6 New Packages Be a part of MPSF in Swimming & Diving, Creating West Coast Tremendous Conference

With continued convention realignment chaos, particularly within the western United States, the MPSF has as soon as once more proven its worth. The convention will welcome seven applications to its convention swimming & diving scene, lifting it to a report 24 groups for the 2027 convention championship meet – 16 girls and eight males.

The earlier excessive for swimming & diving membership was in the course of the 2011-12 season, which featured 19 groups.

The new MPSF faculties are St. Mary’s College in California, CSU Bakersfield, Seattle University, UC San Diego, UCSB, the University of Denver, and the University of San Diego.

Of these applications, all are co-ed apart from San Diego, which sponsors a girls’s-only crew.

St. Mary’s College will launch its inaugural season of varsity swimming & diving subsequent season.

This is the third stint for CSUB within the MPSF, after beforehand taking part in 2011-2013 and 2022-2024. They gained the inaugural males’s swimming & diving championship in 2011.

Other faculties with MPSF historical past embody UC San Diego (2019-2024), whose girls gained the 2022 title; UCSB (males 2015-2024, girls 2011-2024) with two males’s titles in 2017 and 2018; Denver (males 2013); Seattle (males 2011-2013; girls 2011-2012); and San Diego (girls 2011-2025).

The San Diego girls have been within the MPSF since its founding except final season.

The new members of the MPSF are largely cut up between the Big West Conference and the West Coast Conference, with two faculties (UCSD and UCSB) slated to maneuver from the Big West to the WCC in 2027-2028. While there’s some reasoning behind the steadiness of simply staying within the MPSF, the West Coast Conference could have many faculty swimming & diving applications for the season-after-next and will launch its personal championship.

The MPSF has turn out to be much more worthwhile since Foti Mellis was employed in 2021 amid excessive convention turnover. Under his watch, the convention has added 87 groups from 42 faculties and eight sports activities.

It is now one among three NCAA Division I faculty swimming & diving conferences that function primarily within the western U.S., together with the Mountain West and the Pac-12 (presumed).

With new computerized qualifiers in swimming & diving, a mega-conference does current challenges. Last season, 7 MPSF swimmers had computerized {qualifications} for the NCAA Championships:

The new faculties embody extra auto qualifiers, together with some in overlapping occasions like the lads’s 100 fly:

2026-2027 MPSF Field

Women

Men

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT JOINING MPSF SWIMMING & DIVING

“We’re excited to rejoin the MPSF for swimming and diving. The conference offers a strong level of competition that will help our student-athletes continue to grow and compete at a high level. It’s a great fit for our program, and a positive step for the swimmers and divers who put in the work every day to represent CSUB.”
-Dr. Sarah Tuohy, CSU Bakersfield Director of Athletics

“We are thrilled to join the MPSF as we begin a new era for CSUB Swimming & Diving. The MPSF provides a highly-competitive platform for our student-athletes and creates an opportunity for them to challenge themselves at a high level while continuing to raise the standard within our program. We are excited for the opportunities this partnership will create for our team, our university, and the future of CSUB Swimming & Diving.”
-Shane Pelton. CSU Bakersfield Head Coach

“We’re thrilled to join the MPSF in men’s and women’s swimming and diving next season. I’d like to thank the conference for helping us find a great home for our student-athletes and thank both of our programs for their patience while we found them an appropriate spot to continue to compete for championships while several of our other athletic programs make the transition to the West Coast Conference this summer. I’m excited for the future of our swimming and diving programs.”
-Josh Berlo, University of Denver Vice Chancellor for Athletics and Ritchie Center Operations 

“Our program is very excited to be able to compete in the MPSF next season. It will provide a greater level of competition that will push our student-athletes to perform at higher levels as they strive to earn qualifying times for the national championships. I’d like to thank Josh Berlo and the University’s leadership for finding our program a great home for our program to be able to continue to compete for championships.”
–Alicia Hicken-Franklin, University of Denver Head Coach

“We are very excited and grateful to be joining the MPSF for the 2026-27 school year. They have been running great swimming championships for years, and we look forward to being a part of what will be one of the largest and most competitive D-I championship meets in the country next winter. It has been a roller coaster of conference realignment among swim programs in the western part of the country the past couple years, but we along with all other WCC swim teams are thrilled to be a part of the MPSF for this coming season.”
-Joe Dykstra, Seattle University Head Coach

“I want to express my gratitude to MPSF and Commissioner Foti Mellis for opening the door and providing our team with the opportunity to compete in the conference championship, which is eligible for NCAA qualification.
We have cherished memories from MPSF, particularly since our women’s team achieved its first-ever UCSD D-I championship in 2022. We are thrilled about the upcoming championship.”
-Marko Djordjevic, UC San Diego Head Coach

“Being back in the MPSF will be an exciting opportunity for our program. The conference is deep, talented, and highly competitive, which will challenge us to continue raising our standards. I look forward to seeing how many personal-bests we achieve, the memories we create together, and the NCAA qualifiers and all-conference performances that emerge along the way.”
-Jaclyn Rosen, UCSB Head Coach

“We’re excited to rejoin the MPSF ahead of the 2026-2027 season. Our Torero swimming and diving program has a long history in the MPSF, and returning was a natural fit for us. We’re especially appreciative of Commissioner Mellis and his staff for providing us with the opportunity to continue competing in the MPSF and beyond.”
– Kimya Massey, University of San Diego Associate Vice President/Executive Director of Athletics

“We are excited and appreciative to be rejoining the MPSF this season. With the addition of several new teams to complement the existing membership, the conference will be very competitive with depth throughout all scoring opportunities.”
– Mike Keeler, University of San Diego Swimming and Diving Head Coach