There's an issue surfacing in Division I swimming and diving in which the long and short of it is, well, just that.

In September, the Division I Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Committee agreed to ask the Division I membership how it would feel about conducting its popular short-course championship meets as long-course events in Olympic years only. Though it's only a one-in-four-years proposition, it would be a significant shift for a constituency comfortable with the traditional short-course format.

Division I agreed to a similar but perhaps milder idea three years ago when it began conducting championships in Olympic years in short-course meters instead of short-course yards. The reason for that change was to allow Olympic hopefuls a better opportunity to qualify for the Olympic Trials -- typically held after the NCAA championships -- by providing a format comparable to selected international competitions without dramatically modifying the length of the course (25 meters as opposed to 25 yards). The thinking was that the qualifying-times comparison would be easier -- meters to meters instead of yards to meters -- and it would not compromise the many swimmers whose colleges and universities had only short-course facilities.

Plus, at that time, USA Swimming, the sport's national governing body, accepted short-course-meters times for Olympic qualifying, a practice that has since been discontinued. Now, Olympic qualifying times must be achieved in long-course meters, the same format used for Olympic competition. Thus, USA Swimming approached the Division I committee about a further shift to the long-course format.

The tension of the proposal is that institutions with short-course facilities and no interest or funds to build long-course pools resist the notion of a long-course NCAA championship, while the more elite programs with access to 50-meter pools think the idea has promotional value and would be good for the sport.

"I would love to have the NCAAs be long-course meets every year because I do think it relates to international-level competition and particularly world records that would help promote our sport," said Stanford University women's coach Richard Quick, who also is a former Olympic coach. "We are the only country in the world that swims yards.

"But I also understand the rich tradition that we have in 25-yard swimming, the records and the history. It's all so valuable. There would be part of me that would be sad about leaving all of that behind. But I do believe that at the least, we ought to be swimming short-course meters every year so that we move into the modern era."

Dan Ross, the men's coach at Purdue University and a member of the swimming committee, believes most Division I coaches would opt for the status quo. "The membership has said it is resoundingly against a long-course championship, even once every four years," Ross said. "And the people I've spoken with about this still would not want the long-course meet. They prefer the uniqueness of the NCAA short-course yards. We have to be sensitive to our NCAA programs that have short-course facilities."

Other coaches, though, believe that there's enough "long-course water" out there and that most Division I swimmers would relish the opportunity to test themselves at the highest standard.

"At the Division I level," Quick said, "swimmers at the very top schools are training year-round, so they train in both formats. I don't know that they exclusively train for short-course swimming. They are training to swim fast for all circumstances and they know they need to train year-round.

"I'm not sure the long-course proposal would favor the elite athlete (over the majority of swimmers), but it certainly would help the elite athletes be more successful internationally."

David Roach, director of athletics at Brown University and chair of the swimming committee, said the proposal would be the best fit for Olympic hopefuls.

"A long-course championship would allow college swimmers who haven't made an Olympic qualifying time yet an opportunity to make that cut in a tremendous meet. If they swim short course, they can't use that time."

Roach said the short-course format actually works against potential Olympians. "They shave and taper for short course and then a week or two later have to try to qualify in long course -- it's not that easy to do," he said. "College coaches are thinking of those kinds of kids and thinking the long-course option might be a good idea."

NGB point of view

From USA Swimming's perspective, the long-course option is the desired outcome, but some in the college swimming community think that's a selfish pursuit. USA Swimming Executive Director Chuck Wielgus said he knows there are some coaches who are skeptical and that he understands their concerns.

"Sure, from our perspective, we'd love to see every NCAA dual meet and every NCAA championship meet be contested as long-course events," Wielgus said, "but we also know that's an unrealistic scenario. That's why we think the long-course option in Olympic years is an appropriate compromise to consider. And that's all we're asking the NCAA to do -- consider the option."

Wielgus said that beyond the obvious desire for USA Swimming and college swimming to be on the same format page, the pros of the proposal are twofold. One benefit, he said, is that more athletes and their coaches will be preparing and training for a long-course competition in an Olympic year and thus will not have conflicting training regimens.

"It's also an opportunity for athletes to measure where they are against the rest of the world," Wielgus said. "Athletes who compete at the Division I level want that opportunity to test themselves against the highest standards."

Purdue's Ross said there are coaches who would turn USA Swimming's request for the NCAA to compromise around -- they would question why USA Swimming won't consider accepting short-course qualifying times. Ross said some coaches believe that USA Swimming's decision to accept only long-course times is an attempt to shrink the pool of potential qualifiers at the Olympic Trial meets since not as many swimmers would be able to access the facilities necessary to post the times. Ross said there were about 1,400 participants at the last Olympic Trials, a number sure to be reduced by the restriction to long-course qualifying times.

But Wielgus believes USA Swimming's decision is defensible.

"The position USA Swimming has taken is that Olympic swimming is long-course swimming," he said. "And we're looking to have athletes qualify for the Trials every four years with a long-course time. It's not an unreasonable position. There are enough long-course facilities and events and opportunities for athletes to make those times."

Roach, the committee chair, said most highly ranked college swimming programs already have 50-meter pools. "I can't think of a top-15 program that doesn't," he said. Plus, Roach said, most swimmers who try to qualify for Olympic competition already train for much of the year in long-course formats, regardless of the format used for the NCAAs. Many swimmers in fact train through USA Swimming, he said.

"When it comes to meters, college swimmers are accustomed to swimming long-course," Roach said.

Long and short differences

Not only is consensus difficult to reach because of the differences among facilities, but many people acknowledge the differences between the two formats from a performance perspective as being difficult to resolve.

Dylan Malagrino, who chairs the Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and is a former swimmer at Syracuse University, said the difference between the two formats is significant.

"The training for long-course meters is completely different than for short-course yards," he said. "The long-course regimen is more difficult, which is why many teams during the semester break train in long-course -- to experience that difficulty."

Malagrino said short-course swimmers must excel in the turns, while long-course competitors must rely on arm and stroke strength for longer lengths. "I was much stronger in short-course because I had a stronger kick than a pull," he said. "In long-course meters, your kick dies down a lot faster because you don't have that flip turn as often to give you a boost."

Whether one format is better than the other may be a matter of preference. But Ross said most swimmers would prefer the short-course format.

"If you asked college swimmers, 90 percent of them would say short-course," he said. "Some of the international kids like short-course meters, and a handful of American kids are better long-course swimmers. Long-course is a significantly different format, which isn't necessarily bad. But I believe if you listen to the kids, they would prefer short-course."

Stanford's Quick said both formats usually produce the same winners. "Usually, the very best short-course swimmers also are the very best long-course swimmers," he said. "In long-course, there may be a little more emphasis on swimming versus weight training and other out-of-pool activities. But the most successful long-course swimmers do a lot of dry-land work as well.

"I think long-course would help the elite athletes at the international level without compromising the average Division I college swimmer."

USA Swimming's Wielgus hopes college coaches will agree with Quick, but he made it clear that it wasn't the governing body's intent to make waves.

"The single thing that separates American swimming from swimming in the rest of the world is NCAA swimming," he said. "It presents the foundation and the infrastructure for the sport that is the envy of the rest of the world. We certainly want to have a good relationship with what is one of the pillars of our sport.

"At the same time, when you get to the very elite level and preparing for success at the Olympic Games, there are some conflicts that come into play. We believe the long-course option can be a collaborative compromise that allows both NCAA swimming and Olympic-level swimming to work together in a way that makes sense."

Survey results this spring and discussions among coaches at the NCAA championships will determine whether both sides are interested in such collaboration.

Ross said the point of the survey is to do a check-up on membership reaction, which he said historically has been against long-course championships.

"Now we need to ask the membership whether their 'no' in the past meant 'no' for that time or 'no' for all times," Ross said.

And that's pretty much the long and short of it.