By Anya Pelshaw on SwimSwam
The NCAA transfer portal opens this upcoming Wednesday, March 12th for women’s swimming and diving while the men’s window begins March 19th. With what is expected to be a busy season in the portal due to roster cuts, it is time to review the rules about the portal.
The Division I women’s swimming and diving window opens on March 12th and closes on April 25th while the men’s window begins on March 19th and ends May 2nd. The window gives transfer athletes 45 days to put their name into the portal. The 45 day window shrunk last season after sitting at 60 days. The window marks one week after the NCAA invites are announced.
Entering the portal is a pretty straightforward process, and coaches do not have to be notified. Administrators are required to help student-athletes enter the portal if they ask to.
This window does not require the student to make their decision to transfer before the end date, rather it is the window in which the student-athlete must begin their transfer process.
Students who are graduate transfers are not bound by the 45 day window and can enter at any time. With most swimmers who competed in the COVID-19 year completing their fifth year this season, it is expected that graduate transfers will be less this offseason. Still, athletes who graduate early in three years for example, can enter at any time as graduate transfers.
Other exceptions to the window exist for programs that are cut and athletes impacted by head coaching changes (who receive a 30 day window to enter the portal immediately following the coaching change).
Swimmers are not required to transfer by entering the portal, and on rare occasion have changed their minds and stayed at their current NCAA programs. Entering the portal allows athletes to discuss the possibility of transferring with other programs.
Athletes are now allowed to transfer an unlimited amount of times without having to sit out a season. Previous rules made an athlete sit out for a season after transferring for a second time, unless a waiver was approved.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: NCAA Transfer Portal Rules And Summary