The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) is excited to announce that the United States Naval Academy has been awarded the bid to host the 2018 National Invitational Championship (NIC), Presented by Speedo.

The NIC will provide a culminating event for those Division I swimmers and divers who have either won a individual/relay conference title and/or achieved NCAA 'B' and Zone standards but are not selected for the NCAA Division I Championships. The NIC will take place at the Naval Academy's Lejeune Hall Pool March 8-10, 2018.

The NIC was created because of a growing number of students denied an opportunity to participate in a national-level championship. Since 2005 the number of men and women competing in Division I swimming and diving has grown by 10.8% and 12.2% respectively while the number of women's teams is up nearly 4% over the past decade.

"As Division I has continued to grow," explained CSCAA Executive Director Joel Shinofield, "the number of postseason opportunities has not. The NIC remedies this."

The announcement comes less than two weeks before the association hosts its 2nd Annual Open Water Championship. That event , set for September 16th hosted by the University of Kansas, was broadcast by Time Warner Sports in 2016.

Legislative Success

In April the NIC was given a shot in the arm when the NCAA approved legislation creating a season exemption for the competition, and preparation for the event from institutions’ declared playing and practice seasons. The NCAA permanent legislation further provided the event stability as the CSCAA moves forward securing facilities, broadcast partners, sponsorships and more. "We expect the National Invitational to become a great opportunity for the athletes and a signature event for the sport."

Automatic Qualifiers

One of many things making the meet unique is automatic qualification. All Division I conference champions, both relay and individual, will automatically qualify for the National Invitational Championship. This move, Shinofield explained, "resulted from feedback from athletic directors."

"AD's have told us, time and time again, the high value they place on the conference championships, so we constructed a qualification process that reflects this by rewarding the winners with automatic qualification."

The Venue

Originally constructed in 1982, the facility underwent a $11-million facelift in 2012 has been a regular host of the ECAC and Patriot League Championships.

"Bill [Roberts], John [Morrison] and the entire Navy staff are known for hosting major events," explained Meet Director Greg Lockard, "Making this a championship-caliber experience was our first priority."

Diving

For diving, the NIC will utilize scores from the NCAA Zone Meets. After each diver has scored in his/her individual events (1-meter springboard, 3-meter springboard and platform) at their respective Zone meet, the scores will be compiled and ranked. This decision was made for a couple of reasons - to expand access to the meet and eliminate missed class time."

"The Zone meets provide divers with a national-level opportunity post conference," Shinofield explained. "The timing with the zone meets, so soon after many conference championships and immediately before the NIC mean many divers would miss class over multiple weeks, we wanted their efforts to be reflected in the meet without further impacting their class schedules". "We are looking for ways build more opportunities for divers- including an invitational in Orlando over the winter break designed specifically for divers and coaches to accommodate both training and competition."

Who Would Have Qualified in 2017?

While it is impossible to predict what teams will ultimately attend, the CSCAA has received an exemption for this event from the NCAA to allow for wider participation. Here are the number of swimmers that would have qualified in 2016-17. (This excludes the number of swimmers who participated at the NCAA Championships.

Men

21 Kentucky*
20 Purdue*
18 Arizona
18 Penn
17 Duke
17 Indiana
17 Ohio St
16 Michigan
15 Georgia Tech
15 Notre Dame
15 Utah
14 Air Force
14 Missouri
14 NC State
14 Pittsburgh
13 Iowa
13 Navy
13 Texas
13 UC Santa Barbara
13 Virginia
13 Wyoming
12 East Carolina
12 Florida
12 Harvard
12 North Carolina
12 Penn St
11 Alabama
11 Army
11 California
11 Columbia
11 Florida State
11 Louisiana State
11 Minnesota
10 Denver
10 Southern California
10 William & Mary
9 Auburn
9 Michigan State
9 UNLV
9 Wisconsin
8 Arizona State
8 Brown
8 Eastern Mich
8 Louisville
8 Missouri State
8 Pacific
8 South Carolina
8 Tennessee
8 Texas Christian
7 Buffalo
7 Cornell
7 Georgia
7 Southern Methodist
7 Texas A&M
7 UMBC
7 West Virginia
6 Cincinnati
6 Hawaii
6 La Salle
6 Miami (Ohio)
6 Northwestern
6 Princeton
6 Stanford
6 Virginia Tech
6 Yale
5 Bucknell
5 Connecticut
5 Grand Canyon
5 Oakland
5 Southern Illinois
4 Brigham Young
4 Incarnate Word
4 North Dakota
3 Fordham
3 George Washington
3 IUPUI
3 Lehigh
3 Old Dominion
3 Saint Bonaventure
3 Seton Hall
2 Bryant
2 CSU Bakersfield
2 Drexel
2 Gardner-Webb
2 Massachusetts
2 Rider
2 Seattle
2 Villanova
2 Xavier
1 Boston College
1 Cleveland State
1 Dartmouth
1 Davidson
1 George Mason
1 Loyola (MD)
1 Saint Louis
1 South Dakota
1 Towson
1 UW Milwaukee

Women

14 Yale
12 Purdue
12 Texas A&M
11 Georgia Tech
11 Harvard
11 Indiana
11 Louisiana State
11 Louisville
11 Nebraska
11 Utah
10 Arizona
10 Houston
10 Michigan
10 Minnesota
9 Alabama
9 Florida Gulf
9 Navy
9 NC State
9 North Carolina
9 Ohio St
9 San Diego State
9 South Carolina
9 Virginia
8 Duke
8 Kansas
8 Nevada
8 Northwestern
8 Penn St
8 Rice
8 Tennessee
8 Texas
7 Florida Int'l
7 Florida State
7 Iowa
7 Miami (Ohio)
7 Notre Dame
7 Penn
7 Princeton
7 UC Santa Barbara
7 Virginia Tech
6 California
6 Cincinnati
6 Colorado St.
6 Eastern Mich
6 Florida
6 Georgia
6 Kentucky
6 Miami (FL)
6 Missouri
6 New Mexico
6 Pittsburgh
6 Southern Methodist
6 UCLA
6 Washington St.
6 West Virginia
6 William & Mary
6 Wyoming
5 Auburn
5 Brown
5 Columbia
5 Iowa State
5 Marshall
5 Tulane
5 Villanova
5 Wisconsin
4 Arizona State
4 Arkansas
4 Boise St
4 Bowling Green
4 Buffalo
4 Denver
4 Liberty
4 Michigan State
4 Missouri State
4 New Hampshire
4 North Texas
4 Oakland
4 Pacific
4 Richmond
4 Rutgers
4 Southern California
4 UNLV
3 Akron
3 Connecticut
3 Duquesne
3 East Carolina
3 Fresno State
3 Grand Canyon
3 Hawaii
3 Illinois
3 North Dakota
3 Northern Iowa
3 Oregon St
3 San Jose St
3 Texas Christian
3 Toledo
3 UC Davis
2 Air Force
2 Army
2 Brigham Young
2 Bucknell
2 Cornell
2 Drexel
2 Fordham
2 Georgetown
2 Idaho
2 James Madison
2 Massachusetts
2 Northern Arizona
2 Ohio
2 Old Dominion
2 Rhode Island
2 Southern Illinois
2 Stanford
2 UW Milwaukee
2 Vanderbilt
1 Cleveland State
1 CSU Bakersfield
1 Davidson
1 GA Southern
1 Gardner-Webb
1 George Mason
1 George Washington
1 Illinois State
1 La Salle
1 Lehigh
1 New Mexico State
1 Northeastern
1 Saint Bonaventure
1 San Diego
1 Seattle
1 Seton Hall
1 South Dakota St
1 St. Francis
1 Towson
1 UMBC
1 Wagner
1 Wright State
1 Xavier

NIC Bid Awarded to Navy