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The Global Strength of Swimming at American Universities

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In the American competitive pool swimming world, there are many centers of excellence.

Some universities have long been places where Olympian champions (e.g., Ous Mellouli at USC shown above on left and Leon Marchand at Arizona State University shown above on right) have trained.

Stanford University and University of California Berkeley are the top schools on the West Coast with Indiana University and Ohio State standing out in the Midwest. There are also schools ranging from the University of Texas and Arizona State to the University to the University of Virginia (women) and Virginia Tech (men) on the have long dominated competition at the NCAA Division I National Swimming & Diving Championships.

The top 10 teams at the 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships were as follows:

  1. Texas
  2. California
  3. Indiana
  4. Florida
  5. Tennessee
  6. Arizona State
  7. Georgia
  8. Stanford
  9. North Carolina State
  10. Virginia Tech

The top 10 teams at the 2025 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships were as follows:

  1. Virginia
  2. Stanford
  3. Texas
  4. Indiana
  5. Tennessee
  6. Florida
  7. Louisville
  8. California
  9. Michigan
  10. North Carolina State

With the extent of introspective review of the current problems and trends within USA Swimming, I wanted to look into the number of non-American swimmers who compete at these universities. I wanted to look at the current situation out of personal curiosity.

Men’s Collegiate Swimming

At the 2025 men’s NCAA Division I Championships, over 90 international swimmers competed in individual events, although there were also additional international swimmers who participated in relays who hail outside the United States. International athletes won 7 of 16 individual titles this year. This success on the collegiate level is reflected at the relatively few American medalists and finalists at the 2025 World Championships that were held in Singapore.

Women’s Collegiate Swimming

In contrast to the men, there were no female winners in any event at the 2025 women’s NCAA Division I Championships. This dominance on the collegiate level by American is reflected at the success of the American women at the 2025 World Championships.

Southeastern Conference Schools

The Southeastern Conference (SEC) schools that currently field a men’s swimming and diving team include Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana State University, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Texas A&M.

This is the dominant conference in America with championship finishes by Texas 1st, Florida 4th, Tennessee 5th, Alabama 6th, Georgia 7th, Texas A&M 12th, Alabama 13th, LSU 19th, Kentucky 21st, Auburn 32nd, Missouri 36th, and South Carolina 39th.

Number of International Swimmers at SEC Schools

In this season’s rosters, there are 79 male swimmers on the rosters of SEC schools:

America First Policy 

With President Trump’s America First platform in mind, there seems to be political inconsistency with the strong support that President Trump holds throughout the states where the SEC schools are located.

America First is a set of policies promulgated and being executed by the Trump Administration in the United States and vis-a-vis his relationship with countries worldwide. His stance and policies were strongly supported outside the West and East Coasts of the United States in the most recent presidential election [see map below by GZero).  The America First emphasis is based on making decisions that first serve the self-serving interests of the United States before any interests of all other nations and peoples.

So if one assumes that the 79 international swimmers are taking team spots away from American student-athletes, how are the decisions of the collegiate coaches and university administrators consistent with the current America First policy – that is widely supported by the residents and politicians throughout the states of Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Kentucky, Missouri, and South Carolina?

Benefits of International Recruiting

Recruiting international athletes enhances the competitiveness of the university swimming teams by expanding their talent base from only America to the entire world. This pressure to win by the universities, coaches, and fans is a huge motivator and goal of the athletic departments – and university administrators. By introducing their schools to overseas students and their families and teammates, the universities can increase their diversity and global branding opportunities.

On an individual level, these athletes often possess high athletic and academic capabilities and a strong will to succeed in both the classroom and swimming pool. As one coach frankly told me, “My foreign swimmers are also my best students. They are better prepared when they are incoming freshmen and they are more motivated in their studies, in general, although there are of course exceptions.”

The international swimmers benefit from some of the finest training facilities in the world and certainly from the dedicated and experienced coaching staff – many of who have also coached American or those country’s national teams at international championships and the Olympic Games.

The athletes also benefit from the university’s academic support systems that focus on not only helping the swimmers balance the rigors of their academic and athletic obligations, but also help them as students whose native language is not English.

With the emphasis on short-course 25-yard pool training, the swimmers turns and breakouts inevitably improve over training in long-course 50m pools. 

Very importantly, the high costs of American universities is offset by their athletic scholarships and financial aid that significantly reduces the costs potentially born by their parents. Unlike other international NARPs (Non-athletic Regular Person) on college campuses who generally have to pay more than American students (at least at public universities), the international swimmers bear a lower educational cost. 

For example, at the University of Florida, the in-state tuition and fees for Florida residents is $6,381 with the total costs to be about $28,250. In comparison, the costs for attendance for international students at Florida is $50,235 as they are generally not eligible for federal financial aid. 

Long-term benefits for international swimmers are quite profound. They gain first-hand exposure to American society and lifestyles, they develop a fluent command of the American English language, idioms, and slang, and a personal network that will bear fruit over the course of their lives.

© 2025 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline“

A World Open Water Swimming Federation project.

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