After three years and three different head coaches and a year with multiple records set, the Cal Poly Swimming and Diving program was cut last Friday, March 7.
It was Friday morning when the men and women’s swim and dive programs were notified of a meeting between them and Cal Poly Athletic Director Don Oberhelman.
“We knew it wasn't a good email to hear," junior swimmer Jonathan Butler said.
It was then that the athletes and coaches found out their sport had been cut effective immediately.
“It was a grim feeling," junior swimmer Nick Elliott explained. "A lot of emotions were very tense inside the room. It was just sad because it just kind of felt like the end of an era.”
An era that concluded with an undefeated dual meet schedule and ten new school records this past season.
“This year has been a new adjustment period, but despite that, we've been on a serious linear trajectory," Elliott said of the season.
With the ongoing House v. NCAA settlement, which establishes backpay for NCAA Division I athletes playing at five of the biggest conferences since 2016, KSBY spoke with Oberhelman in October about whether cuts could happen, and he said the time it would be the very last thing they would want to do.
"It is probably one of the worst things an athletic department can go through is the elimination of the sport," he said in October. "It's the last thing we'd want.”
In a letter on Friday, President Armstrong said the cuts were necessary due to the settlement, saying it would cost “at least $450,000 per year for our programs.”
“Seeing the pool one more time before we knew we would never step foot on it again made it really hard," Elliott said. "Seeing, what we kind of sense, there's a lack of remorse, it just kind of sealed the nail in the coffin.”
With the news, student-athletes already receiving a scholarship will get to keep it but for many, they are choosing to leave the school and transfer.
“I know everybody's really hurt, and a lot of swimmers are heading to the transfer portal and looking for new opportunities," Butler said.
In an emailed response, Oberhelman explained that the reason for choosing the swim and dive team over a different sport was a number of factors, including “conference stability, lack of current investment from alumni and donors, and the gap in current funding to be competitive vs. what is presently afforded.”
He also said that as of right now, there are no plans to discontinue any other athletic programs.
