Navigating the Waters: A Guide to Division II Swimming College Requirements

For high school swimmers with aspirations of competing at the college level, understanding the requirements and landscape of Division II (DII) swimming programs is crucial. This article provides a comprehensive overview of these requirements, covering athletic and academic standards, scholarship opportunities, and the recruiting process.

Understanding Division II Swimming

Division II colleges offer a balance between high-level competition and a more manageable campus environment. With over 50% of DII universities having less than 2,500 students, athletes can often maintain a better life balance compared to larger Division I (DI) schools.

Athletic Scholarships in Division II

Swimming is considered an equivalency sport in NCAA DII, meaning that the scholarship money available can be divided among multiple athletes. While Division I football, a "counter" sport, is limited to 85 indivisible full scholarships, Division II schools are limited to 8.1 scholarships each for men and women. This allows coaches to allocate funds in various ways, offering full scholarships to some athletes while providing partial tuition, room and board, or covering expenses like lab fees and books for others.

It's important to note that athletic scholarships are one-year contracts between the athlete and the institution. A school can reduce or cancel a scholarship if the athlete becomes ineligible, misrepresents themselves, quits the team, or engages in serious misconduct. However, the scholarship cannot be reduced or canceled based on athletic ability, performance, or injury during the contract year. Athletic Scholarship: An athletic scholarship is a one-year contract between you and a Division I or Division II institution. A school can reduce or cancel a scholarship if you become ineligible for competition, fraudulently misrepresent yourself, quit the team or engage in serious misconduct. During the contract year, a coach cannot reduce or cancel your scholarship on the basis of your athletic ability, performance, or injury. An institution may choose to not renew a scholarship at the end of the academic term provided they notify you in writing and provide you an opportunity for a hearing. Remember a coach cannot offer you a "four year full-ride scholarship." They do not exist in today’s NCAA. Each student athlete award is reviewed annually. It is important to ask current collegiate swimmers if they are still on scholarship.

Academic Requirements for Division II Eligibility

To be eligible to compete in DII athletics, student-athletes must meet specific academic requirements set by the NCAA Eligibility Center. These include:

Graduating from high school.
Completing a minimum of 14 core courses. After August 1, 2013, student-athletes who wish to compete at Division II institutions must complete 16 core courses.
Earning a minimum required grade-point average in core courses.
Earning a qualifying test score on either the ACT or SAT.
Requesting final amateurism certification from the NCAA Eligibility Center.

It is important to ensure you're taking classes as required by the NCAA Eligibility Center, as well as the ACTs and SATs. Recruiters will be looking at both your academic and athletic performance.

Recruiting Process and Timelines

The recruiting process for DII swimming can be complex, but understanding the timelines and rules can give you a significant advantage.

Contact Rules: For NCAA DI and DII coaches, contact is essentially off-limits until June 15 after the recruit’s sophomore year in high school. On August 1 before junior year, NCAA swimming recruiting rules permit student athletes and their families to take an “official visit.” This means that recruiting efforts really ramp up during junior year. Coaches can send non-recruiting material, like brochures or camp information, at any time. In creating these rules, the NCAA was trying to make sure elite recruits didn’t get overwhelmed by constant contact from coaches.
Official Visits: You are limited to five official visits. On an official visit a school CAN pay for your transportation, lodging, and meals. The school can also pay for your parent's meals, and lodging. The school may also pay for their transportation provided you traveled by automobile. Institutions may also provide a student host with $30 for entertainment ($20 in Division III) within a 30 mile radius of campus and may also provide you with and your parents with complimentary admissions to a campus athletics event. Additional tickets may be reserved and purchased at face value by other family members accompanying you on a visit. They cannot provide you with gifts of any kind including photos, t-shirts, etc.
Unofficial Visits: A school may provide you with three complimentary admissions to a campus athletics event on an unofficial visit. A school cannot pay for your meals, lodging, or entertainment on an unofficial visit, although you are permitted to stay in student housing with a student-athlete by paying the regular institutional rate (which is frequently nothing for short-term guests).
Phone Calls: Division I and II colleges and universities are prohibited from calling you prior to July 1st following the completion of a prospect's junior year. If you received a call prior to July 1st, that school broke the law. After that coaches may call you once per week. Exceptions to this limit are made a) during the five days prior to your official visit; b) the day of an in-person, off-campus contact; and c) subsequent to your national letter of intent signing. Calls may be made by most athletic staff, but not student-athletes. Division III has no such limits.
Contacts and Evaluations: Any face-to-face meeting between a college coach and you or your parents, during which any of you say more than "hello" is a contact. If no contact is made between a coach and you or your parents, this is considered an evaluation. For all divisions, a college coach cannot contact you off-campus and in person until July 1 prior to your senior year. During the academic year Division I and II institutions are limited to seven permissible recruiting opportunities (contacts and evaluations) with you, not more than three of them may be in-person, off-campus contacts with you. Contacts at a Meet A coach may not speak with you at a meet until the conclusion of your final event and clearance from your high school or club coach. If the meet takes place over a number of days, college coaches will have to wait until the final day to speak with you.

The National Letter of Intent

The National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a binding agreement between the student-athlete and the institution. When you sign the National Letter of Intent you agree to attend the institution with which you signed for one academic year in exchange for the institution awarding financial aid, including athletics aid, for one academic year. The signing dates for swimming are usually the 2nd week in November (Early) and Mid-April through August 1 (Late).

Signing a National Letter of Intent ends the recruiting process since participating schools are prohibited from recruiting student-athletes who have already signed letters with other participating schools. A student-athlete who has signed a National Letter of Intent may request a release from his or her contract with the school. If a student-athlete signs a National Letter of Intent with one school but attends a different school, he or she will lose one full year of eligibility and must complete a full academic year at their new school before being eligible to compete.

What Coaches Look For

Coaches are looking for well-rounded individuals who can contribute to the team both in and out of the pool. Traits that coaches find desirable include:

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Success: Coaches pay close attention to a swimmer's past results.
Potential: Many coaches are attracted more to a swimmer's potential than his or her achievements.
Versatility: Swimmers capable of competing and contributing in several events and strokes are more attractive than one or two event specialists.
Leadership: Coaches seek talented swimmers and leaders.
Work Ethic and Dedication: Coaches desire swimmers with strong, consistent work ethics.
Academics: Coaches seek recruits that are motivated both in the pool and in the classroom.

Finding the Right Fit

Finding the right college is a personal journey that requires careful consideration of your academic and athletic goals. Here are some steps to help you find the right fit:

Assess Your Abilities and Desires: Evaluate what your desire is to be involved not only in your swim team, but around campus and other activities. Will the team commitments allow you time to be involved in say Greek life or student government? Can you get accepted? It is very important to review the acceptance standards of any and all schools that you are interested in attending. If you are unable to meet these standards, it can make your desire to swim on that school's swim team a tougher road. Academic Offerings: If you know your intended major, or even if you don't, it is important to review all of the academic offerings each school has. If you are undecided, do you have plenty of options to explore at the school or are your options limited?
Research Schools: Do your homework and find a program that will benefit from your event strengths. After you’ve done your research, create a list of schools you’re competitive for. There might be a range of programs that span several different levels, and that’s fine. As an example, your event times may put you in the mix for DI recruiting, but if you consider DII or NAIA programs, as well, you might have a better chance of earning a roster spot.
Create a List of Schools: College-bound athletes should compile a list of five to eight schools by the end of their junior year. All of the schools on the list should be well researched and meet the athlete's necessary criteria both academically and athletically. Consider the size, location, reputation, and cost of each university. Colleges provide statistical profiles of current students and admissions criteria. Compare your GPA and SAT scores to assess compatibility with these profiles. Swimmers must also consider each program's coaching staff, history, size, and funding. Similarly, research each team's best swimmers and assess your ability to compete and contribute. Make note of those colleges that fulfill both your academic and athletic needs. Focus This preliminary list should then be carefully focused and narrowed. The goal is to develop a list of five to eight colleges placed into two distinct tiers: reaches and safeties. Those schools that will most likely admit you based upon academic and athletic quality and skill are considered safeties. Reaches, which may or may not be stronger academically and athletically, are schools that have lower acceptance rates. Your list should include three or four safeties and four or five reaches. Get Help Be sure to develop this list in conjunction with your parents and college or guidance counselor. Remember, while each school on your list might be markedly different, you should be content attending and swimming for each one. Developing such a list is difficult, and perhaps burdensome, but it is a necessary step towards finding your ideal match.
Visit Schools: The Trip Recruiting trips to universities are one of the best ways for you to find out where you want to go to college.

Financial Aid Options Beyond Athletic Scholarships

It is commonly misunderstood in the college search process that if you are not recruited or have not been offered a scholarship you must not be very good. That view is false. The fact is that most colleges just do not have the finances available to offer every good swimmer a scholarship. Another fact is that most colleges do not find out a student-athlete is interested in their program until that student has made "First Contact." Don’t assume that colleges are going to call you first. The reality is that most collegiate swimming programs do not have the manpower to search for athletes. Most coaches rely on meet results from large meets such as Sectionals or High School State, prospective student questionnaires, and through professional recruiters (not sports agents) whom a student-athletes pay a fee to have them send information to schools about them. With the scholarship limits that are imposed by the NCAA, most college coaches are going to be looking at a student’s academic ability. Most of swimming student athletes receive financial aid through academic related scholarships, grants and student loans, not through athletic scholarships.

There are many options out there to help students pay for college. It is important for students to look at all possible options to help them pay for college, if needed. Visiting your high school college counselor or guidance counselor may help in the search for different types of scholarships available to you. Each college and university has a financial aid offices or financial service offices. Take time to look into the options each school has to offer and see if you can apply for additional funds from the school. Take time to review each site before registering to use them as some are money-making sites and may not be as useful as others.

Key Considerations for College Visits

Behavior On Visits: It is EXTREMELY important to remember your visit to a college and meeting with the team and coach can be your one and only chance to make a good impression in person. It is important to consider: What are you wearing? Do you look like you are truly interested in the school and are dressed to impress the coach or do you look like an unorganized, unmotivated student? Are you organized with any materials you are presenting to the coach/school? If you sent a resume or document with your information, make sure you bring a matching or updated hard copy. Is the student-athlete driving the conversation with the coach or are the parents? Who is more interested in learning about the program? Remember to get YOUR questions answered. Don't be passive in the experience. Remember on a recruiting trip, coaches and teammates are doing their best to get you to their school and team. Try to remain objective about the experience. This one weekend with a coach and team may not be the best representation of what your college career will look like at that school. Think about your next four-five years there, not just a single weekend. As much as you are judging a team, coach and campus, they are doing the same to you. They want to know if you will fit in with them. Put your best foot forward and enjoy your time getting to know the team, but know how to balance having a good time and being a responsible recruit.

Verbal Commitments

Verbal commitment is the phrase used to describe a college-bound student-athlete’s commitment to a school before he or she is able to sign a National Letter of Intent (“NLI”). A college-bound student athlete can announce a verbal commitment at any time. While verbal commitments have become popular, they are NOT binding on either the college-bound student-athlete or the school. Only the signing of the NLI accompanied by a financial aid agreement is binding on both parties. As stated, verbal commitments are non-binding, but student-athletes should think about how changing a verbal commitment can make them look if they are still looking for the team they do want to join.

Read also: Understanding DIII Soccer

Understanding Walk-On Opportunities

Any athlete who does not receive athletic monies is considered a "walk-on" athlete. These non-athletic scholarship athletes may receive academic monies or other grant and aid from the school or private donors.

Recent Developments and Future Outlook

As part of the House v. NCAA proposed settlement, scholarship limits for Division I sports will be eliminated and roster limits will apply instead. Beginning in the 2025-26 season, NCAA I Swimming teams would have a roster limit of 30 swimmers, all of whom would be eligible for full scholarships. Additionally, under the proposed settlement NCAA I schools will be allowed to share athletic revenues with their varsity athletes up to an initial cap of $ 20.5 million per year. Football and Men’s basketball account for over 90% of team specific revenues at most Power Conference schools, and athletes on these two teams will be the major beneficiaries under the revenue sharing model. These are averages per athlete. In actuality, a few players per team will receive substantially higher than the average, while many will get much less. These estimates are for schools in the four Power conferences.

Time Standards for Division II Swimming

Division 2 swimming minimum times usually match up with the Speedo Sectional cuts. The higher end D2 programs stress Futures Championship times.

The number of participants selected for the Division II Swimming & Championships is capped at 175 men (157 swimmers/18 divers) and 205 women (183 swimmers/22 divers). Unlike Division I and Division III, swimmers in Division II can enter up to four individual races.

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