What’s next for Cal Poly swim and dive?

Keira Scott is dealing with a rare case of déjà vu as she begins her sophomore year at Cal Poly.

The Toronto native committed to swim at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) during her senior year of high school, but LMU cut its women’s swim team — along with five other varsity sports — before she could step foot on campus.

In need of a new school, Scott chose to be a Mustang. After a year of swimming at Cal Poly’s Anderson Aquatic Center and contributing to a record-breaking season for the swim program, Scott said she “found her family” before the program was abruptly cut on March 7.

“I remember that day vividly,” Scott said. “I can’t even put into words how much that day sucked.”

The financial burden from the House vs. NCAA settlement was outlined as a main reason for the cut, as the NCAA and its affiliating conferences have started back-paying $2.8 billion to current and former student-athletes who were withheld name, image and likeness (NIL) earnings beginning in 2016 through June 2025.

The settlement will see the NCAA pay roughly half the damages over the next decade, with schools paying around $550,000 annually to make up the rest.

Colleges have the option of opting into the House settlement, and those that do will be able to pay student-athletes directly from revenue generated by the school. There’s an annual cap of $20.5 million each school can distribute, but there are no rules on how the funds can be spread across sports.

According to The Athletic, most Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools will pay 75% of their revenue to football, 15-20% to men’s basketball, 5-10% to women’s basketball and the rest to Olympic and non-revenue sports. Cal Poly, like many schools outside the Power Four conferences, will struggle to create enough funds to revenue share in the new era of professionalism in college athletics.

With the college landscape constantly changing, the swim and dive community is taking new routes in hopes of reinstatement, including legal action, leveraging a federal order and creating a long-term fundraising plan.

Title IX allegations and STUNT promotion

The attention of program supporters recently turned to the Title IX allegations against Cal Poly, which were sent by advocacy groups Champion Women and sports law firm Equity IX in late June.

CEO Nancy Hogshead of Champion Women and Leigh Ernst Friestedt of Equity IX signed the letter and called for immediate reinstatement of the women’s swim and dive team. They also asked for more scholarships and opportunities for women student-athletes at Cal Poly.

“It illustrates how you can’t just cut women’s programs. Financial problems have never been an excuse to not comply with civil rights laws in this country.”

Leigh Ernst Friestedt, Equity IX Founder

“Many of the universities in this country are not currently compliant with Title IX,” Friestedt said. “There’s no accountability.”

The advocacy groups found that women made up 39.2% of athletes at Cal Poly in the 2024-25 year, meaning they were impacted more even though the men and women cuts were equal (29).

University spokesperson Matt Lazier acknowledged the difference in an email to Mustang News, explaining they understand the “percentage of total female athletes impacted was slightly higher.”

The university declined further comment on the situation, referring questions to the Aug. 1 announcement of STUNT moving from club to varsity. It is unclear whether or not the university views themselves as Title IX compliant after the STUNT promotion.

The STUNT program, which has been at club level since their inaugural 2010 season, has been extremely successful at Cal Poly. They won a club national championship in 2023 and have seen national success almost every year.

Head coach Annette Laron-Pickett is very excited for the move, saying STUNT has big goals in their first season at the Division I level.

“Our plan is to make the national championship,” she said. “We hope to be within the top three [teams] in the nation.”

Some parents, including Keira Scott’s mother, Lisa Oberding, anticipated that STUNT would be promoted when swim and dive was cut.

“Originally, we asked ‘What are they going to try and do if Title IX is pulled?’” Oberding said. “We thought they would promote STUNT.”

Federal pressure around the country

Another part in raising more attention for the program is using President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at protecting college sports.

Issued July 24, the executive order states that universities cannot prioritize larger sports like football over nonrevenue and women’s sports due to financial reasons and the House vs. NCAA settlement.

“The door has been left open by the university. We just have to reach the [$15 million] fundraising amount.”

Trevor Cardinal, Swim and Dive Alumni

The advocacy groups sent a second letter on Aug. 4 alleging that the university is now violating the executive order.

Using the order as leverage, swim parents rallied supporters to send a pre-written letter to the White House website. It calls for Trump to “make an example of Cal Poly” and reinstate the program.

As sports are continuing to be eliminated across the country, student-athletes are beginning to stand against universities.

In Texas, six women student-athletes are suing Stephen F. Austin University under Title IX after three women’s sports were eliminated. The judge ruled in favor of the athletes, ordering the school to preserve all women’s varsity teams.

According to Friestedt, the facts of Cal Poly and Stephen F. Austin are “very similar.”

“It illustrates how you can’t just cut women’s programs,” Friestedt said. “Financial problems have never been an excuse to not comply with civil rights laws in this country.”

Financial uncertainties for the program

The future for the swim and dive program remains murky, but plans for fundraising the $15 million are underway by alumni.

Trevor Cardinal, who swam at Cal Poly from 1999-2003, explained there was not enough time after the program was cut to fundraise as best as they could. Now, with more time, Cardinal and a group of alumni are establishing an updated database to contact all former team members.

“The door has been left open by the university,” Cardinal said. “We just have to reach the [$15 million] fund- raising amount.”

While the number seemed large for a program that had an operating cost just over $250,000 in the 2023-24 year, Cardinal explained the $15 million is “less outlandish” than people realize. That number excludes coaching salaries and scholarships.

According to the former swimmer, if the amount was reached and put into an endowment, interest returns would be able to fund the yearly costs “forever.”

Meanwhile, the STUNT program was noted as a “cost-effective sport model” by recently retired athletic director Don Oberhelman.

“We deserve to be a team at Cal Poly. Getting our team back would light a fire under us. We are competitors.”

Keira Scott, Swim and Dive Sophomore

Lazier noted it is “premature” to address the costs of STUNT at the moment.

California Baptist University, the only other Division I STUNT program in California, cost $179,000 in the 2023-24 season, according to federal data.

Another area of concern for parents and alumni is the money within the Dick Anderson Swimming Scholarship Endowment.

As of Feb. 28, Mustang News reported there was $435,000 in the endowment. Dave Caneer, the co-chairman for the fund, said he worries “it may be used for another program.”

Caneer, a Cal Poly swim alumnus, said university president Jeffrey D. Armstrong has the final say in what happens to the money. The university did not address the money in response to an email from Mustang News.

“I would like to see it returned to the donors,” Caneer said. “They donated for an aquatic scholarship, not a football team or any other athletic program.”

Athletes return to campus

Only a handful of the 58 student-athletes that didn’t graduate have made the choice to leave Cal Poly.

Big West Champion Drew Huston was the first to go, transferring to USC in March. Junior Austin Lathrop and sophomores Krishna Clarke are both leaving Cal Poly as well.

Out of at least 16 recruits that were committed to be Mustangs, five will be coming to attend the school in the fall.

Scott will be coming back to San Luis Obispo too, this time out of the pool.

Even with all the uncertainty, the international student says she does her best to understand the university’s side as well as her team’s viewpoints. After going through one program elimination before this, Scott just hopes to see her “family” get back into the waters together.

“We deserve to be a team at Cal Poly,” Scott said. “Getting our team back would light a fire under us.”

For more stories from the September print edition check out the featured print section on our website or the full issue.