In my 22 years of coaching, I have watched the national swimming and diving meet change from an exciting competition to a predetermined event and become nothing but a numbers game. Somewhere along the way, we forgot that the most important parts for all levels of the NCAA were the athletes and the lessons we as coaches and administrators were supposed to be teaching.

In the fall of 1980, I was asked to serve on the first NCAA committee to add national women's swimming championships for Divisions II and III. When the first NCAA meeting took place, many promises were made. We were told we could design our own meet and we did. Much to our dismay, when we walked into the next meeting that spring, there were Division I members present since the NCAA by then had made the decision to add a Division I national championship. From the point forward, decisions were made with Division I in mind.

In the AIAW meet in 1980, more than 400 athletes competed, each with an option to swim up to five individual events. The strategy about whether to swim an individual or relay event made the meet fun and challenging for each coach and athlete.

Over the last 20 years, however, the meet has changed into an event with a 232-athlete cap, with the swimmers being allowed to swim three events, even if the swimmer qualified in only one event. Also, relay-only swimmers who made B cuts could swim those events. This has changed the meet tremendously. In addition, in 1982, four events were dropped, even though many of us in Division III opposed the change. The former change was so more American records could be set at the Division I meet; the latter was because Division I wanted those events dropped.

As a result of these and other changes, the Division III meet has lost almost all the strategy and much of its excitement. In fact, most swimmers perform more slowly at the nationals since it has become so challenging simply to get into the meet.

Possible solution

When the more restrictive cap was first introduced, we were told every three years this number would be adjusted according to whether schools were adding or dropping swimming. Gradually, new programs added swimming, and some Division II institutions with swimming programs moved to Division III. But despite all these additions to the division, the cap changed only once -- for relay-only swimmers, one-fifth of the meet.

I can't tell you how many times in 20 years I have been told I am the NCAA. If I am, why do more than 150 athletes each year qualify for the meet only to be left home because of the cap? This is the hardest part of coaching. Having two athletes qualify for four years and never get to go -- let me tell you that it didn't leave them with a positive image of NCAA championship swimming.

So, how do we -- the NCAA -- fix this problem? How do we teach values to our athletes to strive to be the best, have the best possible national championships and still remain within budget?

There is, it seems to me, a fairly simple solution to this problem. Most other national championships are structured so that athletes arrive and depart at a number of different times, such as when a basketball team loses on the first day of tournament weekend or when an individual tennis player does not qualify for team competition.

In contrast, at the national championships for swimming and diving, virtually all athletes arrive together one or two days before the meet. They stay until the morning after the meet. Despite this difference, swimmers still fly to the national championships on unrestricted airline tickets that cost three to six times as much as restricted tickets. Thus, my swimmers' tickets to the 1999 championships at Miami University (Ohio) cost more than $1,000 each (tickets for athletes from other teams from this area cost more than $1,200). But I was able to fly to the meet on a one-week advance, Saturday night stay-over ticket for less than $250.

The unrestricted travel provided by these more expensive tickets isn't necessary for our sport. By changing our approach, we could save thousands of dollars each year. This money, in turn, could be used to add back some of the athletes we used to have at the meet. This will make the meet more exciting, challenging and allow the swimmers who really qualified in the event to swim in the meet.

Swimmers need lots of competition to do well. Swimmers taper (rest for a certain meet), which is different than most sports. Swimmers plan for one taper, maybe two, a year. Everything rests on that. This needs to occur at the NCAA championship, not at conference meets. This will help the sport of swimming.

We have been told that the NCAA will never allow this to happen, but why not? Aren't we the NCAA?

Over the years, the various swim committees have done everything possible to save the meet by letting relay-only swimmers with B cuts swim and rallying for more relay-only swimmers. None has made the meet as exciting as the 1980 AIAW meet at Allegheny College, the 1981 event at Coe College or the 1982 championship in Boston, where any team had a shot to win.

As we are now federated, maybe it is time to allow Division III in certain sports to use restricted tickets, to change our meet to make it so anyone could have a shot at winning and to remember that the reason we are doing all of this is for the athletes.

Penny Lee Dean is professor of physical education at Pomona College and is the head women's swimming coach at Pomona-Pitzer Colleges.