Why did Cal Poly San Luis Obispo cut its swim and dive teams?

March 8, 2025

By KAREN VELIE

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo announced Friday that it had cut its swimming and diving programs effective immediately, according to an email to students from Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong.

“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,” according  to Armstrong’s email. “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.”

A group of former and current college athletes filed the lawsuit against the NCAA because of its rules that prevented athletes from profiting from their name, image, and likeness. The parties then negotiated a settlement to distribute $2.576 billion to eligible student-athletes.

Pending approval of the settlement, likely at a hearing on April 7, NCAA Division 1 institutions will jointly fund the backpay amounts through reduced revenue distributions from the NCAA.

Cal Poly has 58 swimmers and divers on their current roster.

Armstrong also announced that scholarship commitments to current swim and dive team members will be honored throughout their time at Cal Poly. Regardless, some of Cal Poly’s highest ranked team members are likely to consider transferring to universities with swim and dive team.