After announcing that both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams would be discontinued due to financial concerns, Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong said that if the department could raise $25 million by June, it could stay.
On March 7, President Armstrong sent a campus-wide letter that confirmed organizational changes and initiatives to improve campus efficiency amid $24 million in budget cuts for the 2025-26 fiscal year. According to the letter, some of the changes included combining the divisions of Student Affairs and Strategic Enrollment Management under a single vice president and integrating the Division of Research with Academic Affairs.
The president also announced that the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams were to be discontinued effective immediately.
“Unfortunately, Cal Poly is not immune to the rapidly evolving and changing NCAA Division I landscape, which presents many challenges and uncertainties for collegiate athletics programs,” the letter said, referring to recent The House v. NCAA, which addresses past and future compensation for student athletes related to their name, image, and likeness rights, which Armstrong said would cost each program about $450,000.
“At this time, no other Cal Poly sports programs are at risk of being discontinued,” Armstrong said. However, he also said that all swim scholarships would be honored.
According to Kelli Hayes, mother of a Cal Poly swim team recruit and member of Cal Poly Swim Dive Parents, President Armstrong gave the program until mid-June to raise $25 million if it wants to remain in operation.
Hayes said that they have until April 15 to raise the first $10 million. If they meet that deadline, they have another 60 days to raise the remaining $15 million.
Assistant Vice President for Communications and Media Relations Matt Lazier confirmed this timeframe and amount via email.
Lazier referred New Times to the university’s athletics Q-and-A page for additional information.
“It was really unfortunate when it happened, because it was really clear that the way it was done was meant to be the nail in the coffin,” Hayes said. “Never before in the history of ever, I feel like people have been asked to raise $25 million like that.”
If raised, the $25 million would serve as an endowment for the swim team, Hayes said, allowing the team to be more self-sustaining and competitive than it was in previous years.
“[Armstrong] wants us to be more competitive in the college swimming world and our current operating budget, he doesn’t see that,” she said. “So, he wants us to go from just operating, I think, to operating, salaries, scholarships, things like that.”
But Hayes said the team is up to the challenge and remains optimistic about fundraising the money, having already raised $2.1 million.
“I have a lot of confidence based on the swimming community, based on the current families and everybody that’s shown interest in us. We have enough support,” she said. “And I hope we have proven enough at this point to show President Armstrong that this is an incredible group of current swimmers, alumni, and recruits coming in that’s only going to benefit his college.”
Third-year Cal Poly student and swimmer Camilo Vargas and said when the program was cut, he and his teammates were disappointed and sad but picked themselves up just a couple days later and got back to work.
“The bottom line is that, you know, we can sit here and blame people and get upset, but the truth is that swimming, it doesn’t make a lot of money for the university,” he said. “So, in reality, we just need to create a fund where we can pull from indefinitely.”
And despite the millions of dollars ahead, Vargas said he doesn’t intend to let up.
“You know, you learn swimming, you can’t just give up. You got to fight till the end,” he said. “And that’s what we’re going to do.”
To donate to the Cal Poly swim team, visit gofundme.com/f/save-cal-poly-swim-dive. Δ
This article appears in Mar 27 – Apr 6, 2025.
Over $431,000 endowment per current athlete to maintain a swim team seems egregious to me. Not sure what’s happening with the NCAA lawsuit but I don’t see what that has to do with people swimming in pools and facilities that already exist. I get that there are coaches, physical therapists and other staff that need to be employed to assist the team but 25 million up front is silly talk. What about just raising what is needed each year to support the program.
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