College Sports - Swimming & Diving
Schools sponsored varsity Swimming & Diving teams in 2024:
| # of Scholarships | Average Athletic | ||||||||||
| # of | # of teams | Total Athletes | Average team size | limit per team | Scholarship | ||||||
| Division | Schools | Men's | Women's | Men | Women | Men's | Women's | Men | Women | Men | Women |
| NCAA I | 196 | 133 | 195 | 3,828 | 5,781 | 29 | 30 | 9.9 | 14 | 18,890 | 19,149 |
| NCAA II | 105 | 77 | 104 | 1,662 | 2,101 | 22 | 20 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 6,388 | 7,540 |
| NCAA III | 274 | 244 | 271 | 4,520 | 5,304 | 19 | 20 | - | - | - | - |
| NAIA | 44 | 39 | 44 | 480 | 541 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 8,341 | 7,883 |
| CCCAA | 57 | 51 | 57 | 714 | 680 | 14 | 12 | - | - | - | - |
| NJCAA | 13 | 13 | 13 | 122 | 124 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 15 | 1,543 | 1,821 |
| Other | 2 | 2 | 2 | 23 | 18 | 12 | 9 | - | - | 901 | 1,407 |
| Totals | 691 | 559 | 686 | 11,349 | 14,549 | 20 | 21 | - | - | - | - |
Swimming is an equivalency sport for NCAA limits, so partial scholarships can be awarded as long as the combined equivalent awards do not exceed the limit. For example, an NCAA I school can award 21 women swimmers each a 2/3 equivalent scholarship and still meet the limit of 14 per team. For more information see our page on scholarship limits.
Do the Math! NCAA Division I men's teams have an average roster of 29 swimmers but a limit of 9.9 scholarships to award per team. This means the average award covers only about 1/3 of annual college costs, and this assumes swimming is a fully funded sport at the specific school.
*Average Athletic Scholarship is the average award per athlete for ALL varsity sports sponsored by the specific school. Some athletes receive full awards, some receive partial and many receive none. Additionally some sports within a school may be fully funded, some partially and some sports provide no athletic scholarships. Private schools generally have higher tuition than public schools and the average award will reflect this.
Odds of a High School Swimming & Diving Player competing in College 2024:
| Male | Female | |
| Number of US High School Swimmers 2019-20 | 152,124 | 194,870 |
| Number of College Swimmers | 11,349 | 14,549 |
| % of US High School Swimmers competing at any College Level | 7.00% | 7.10% |
| % of US High School Swimmers Competing at NCAA I Schools | 2.30% | 2.80% |
| Odds of a US High School Swimmermaking any College Roster | 14:1 | 14:1 |
| Odds of a US High School Swimmer making an NCAA I Roster | 43:1 | 36:1 |
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