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Diving qualification meets slated for 2013, not 2012

By Gary Brown
NCAA.org

If regional qualifying meets for diving are approved to replace the current video-selection system, they would become effective with the 2013 championships, not 2012, as reported Wednesday on NCAA.org.

The Division III Championships Committee supported a recommendation from the Division III Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Committee to have divers advance from regional qualifying meets rather than submitting videos for review by a diving selection subcommittee that consists of current diving coaches.

The Division III Management Council will need to approve the recommendation at its Oct. 17-18 meeting.

The swimming and diving committee is suggesting that four regional diving qualification meets be held annually, effective with the 2013 championships. The format resembles the zone-diving meets conducted in Division I. Committee members prefer a head-to-head competition rather than rely on videos, the quality of which obviously varies.

The video review system has been in place since 1998, before which there was a prequalification meet the day prior to the start of the national meet. Under the prequalification meet model, divers traveled to the national championships site to determine which divers would advance to compete in the championships over the next few days. That model was eliminated because of the additional expense institutions incurred for those divers that did not advance to the championships, as the NCAA did not reimburse for their travel or provide per diem. In addition, the divers who competed in the prequalification meet missed more class time.

The proposed qualification meets would be held on a weekend.

The Championships Committee endorsed the proposed model, especially since it is “budget neutral.” The proposed $1,000 stipend to each of the four regional host sites to defray the cost of hosting the meet is equivalent to the expenses incurred from the current video review system.