By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
Cal Poly Athletics is cutting its men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs effective immediately, the school confirmed Friday.
The Cal Poly Mustangs, which represent California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Calif., are a Division I school competing in the Big West conference.
Athletic Director Don Oberhelman met with co-head swim coaches Kim Foster Carlson and Traci Granger, and head diving coach Laurel Abernethy, to inform them the program was being cut early Friday morning.
The team was informed immediately after.
In an announcement made Friday, school president Jeffrey D. Armstrong said “financial realities” were at the root of the decision, specifically pointing to the House v. NCAA settlement as the cause of their programs losing at least $450,000 per year.
“Cal Poly Athletics announced today that Cal Poly’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs will be discontinued effective immediately,” the athletics department said in the announcement. “While this is disappointing news to share, the financial realities made the decision unavoidable. Cal Poly Director of Athletics Don Oberhelman met with the impacted student-athletes, coaches and staff to share this news.
“Unfortunately, Cal Poly is not immune to the rapidly evolving and changing NCAA Division I landscape, which presents many challenges and uncertainties for collegiate athletics programs. The House vs. NCAA settlement, which addresses past and future compensation for student-athletes related to name, image and likeness (NIL) rights, will have a significant financial impact—resulting in a loss of at least $450,000 per year for our programs. This comes amid additional national class-action lawsuits pending against the NCAA, further compounding financial and operational challenges for collegiate athletics.”
Directly addressing if the House settlement was the reason for the cuts, the school said: “The overall financial health of the athletic department is the primary reason (for the cuts), and certainly the House v. NCAA settlement (loss of nearly $500,000 per year) has an impact on the department finances, along with the state cuts (nearly 8% for Cal Poly) impacting the entire university.”
The school added that all scholarship commitments for current team members will be honored throughout their time at Cal Poly should they choose to stay.
In an FAQ published by the athletics department, they specifically say “fundraising is not a viable solution” to save the program in the long-term, and claim to have “worked to raise private funds to support swimming and diving for many years, but unfortunately those efforts have not yielded the results necessary to support or maintain the program.”
A source told SwimSwam that the swim & dive program is funded $120,000 per year compared to other Big West teams who have a $210,000 budget. Cal Poly alumni and parents reportedly raised an additional $85,000 to help the school fund the program.
The athletic department said that while budget issues are an ongoing concern, there are no plans to discontinue any other athletics programs “at this time.”
The FAQ includes the question: Why swimming and diving and not a different sport?
“A combination of factors, including conference stability, lack of current investment from alumni and donors, and the gap in current funding to be competitive vs. what is presently afforded,” the answer reads.
Cal Poly has 58 swimmers and divers on their current roster, 29 men and 29 women.
The Mustangs are coming off competing at the Big West Conference Championships in mid-February, where the women’s team placed 6th out of six teams and the men finished 3rd out of five teams.
Foster Carlson was named the Big West Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year after the Mustangs’ 3rd-place finish in the meet, while male swimmer Sam Seybold was named the conference’s co-Freshman Swimmer of the Year.
Cal Poly’s top point scorer at the meet was junior Evan Yoo, an Army transfer who won Big West titles in the men’s 100 breast (52.40) and 200 breast (1:53.64) while placing 3rd in the 200 IM (1:44.70).
Yoo’s 200 breast time ranks him 42nd in the nation, putting him outside the expected cutline for the Men’s NCAA Championships (1:53.12 was the cut-off last year).
Also winning a conference title for the team was junior Drew Huston in the men’s 200 back, posting a time of 1:40.39 that ranks 40th in the NCAA. The time is faster than the 2024 NCAA cutline (1:40.62), but his ranking of 40th doesn’t project to make the meet after last year’s cutline came on line 31.
In January, the men’s team completed its first undefeated regular season in program history.
Last season, Cal Poly competed at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships, placing 6th in the women’s meet and 4th in the men’s.
Last August, Cal Poly brought in two co-head coaches for the co-ed program, Granger and Foster Carlson, after former head coach Phil Yoshida was placed on a leave of absence and ultimately did not return to the program after 24 years as part of the coaching staff.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Cal Poly Cutting Men’s & Women’s Swimming & Diving Programs Effective Immediately