Big West Discontinues Sponsorship of Swimming and Diving

Big West Discontinues Sponsorship of Swimming and Diving

The Big West Conference earlier this month discontinued its championships sponsorship of swimming and diving.

The Big West added the game for the 2024-25 season, and the experiment ends after two seasons.

The announcement was made after the April 30 Big West Board of Directors meeting, as a part of a “broader review of sport sponsorship and future membership composition.” The resolution is efficient July 1, 2026.

From the assertion:

This resolution adopted cautious analysis of NCAA Championship participation necessities and anticipated membership composition, which indicated The Big West would now not meet the minimal institutional threshold required to preserve convention eligibility tied to NCAA Championship automated qualification alternatives within the sport. 

“While this was a difficult decision, it was also a responsible one,” Big West Commissioner Dan Butterly stated. “Our priority is ensuring that student-athletes and programs have clear, stable pathways to meaningful competitive opportunities. Acting now allows institutions to transition to leagues where they can maintain NCAA Championship automatic qualification access and continue to thrive.”

Seven girls’s groups participated within the Big West Championships final yr, with six within the males’s model. The girls’s groups included Hawaii, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, the University of San Diego, Cal State Bakersfield and Seattle University.

The males’s subject included Hawaii, Grand Canyon University, UC San Diego, UCSB, CSUB and Seattle.

Of these establishments, Hawaii, Bakersfield, Davis, Santa Barbara and UC San Diego are among the many Big West’s 11 full member establishments. The relaxation had entered in partnerships to swim within the convention after modifications within the volcanic convention panorama.

The convention stated it has “actively supported impacted institutions in identifying new conference homes that provide continued access to conference-based NCAA Championship qualification opportunities, including coordination with partner leagues such as the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and the Pac-12 Conference.”