Most Influential Colleges in Swimming and Diving Today

Badge for MOST INFLUENTIAL COLLEGES IN SWIMMING AND DIVING

By Dr. Winston Ewert and Dr. Jed Macosko

Published: Jun 24, 2022
Updated: Mar 19, 2024

Most Influential Colleges in Swimming and Diving

University of Michigan
University of Texas at Austin
University of California, Berkeley
University of Florida
Auburn University
University of Southern California
Stanford University
University of Georgia
Indiana University Bloomington
University of California, Santa Barbara

Harvard University
University of California, Berkeley
Columbia University
Stanford University
University of Michigan
University of California, Los Angeles
University of Southern California
University of Texas at Austin
Northwestern University
Indiana University Bloomington

University of Arizona 87%
Loyola University Maryland 83%
Indiana University Bloomington 82%
University of Louisville 82%
University of Nebraska–Lincoln 79%
University of Tennessee 68%
Texas A&M University 63%
Ohio State University 53%
Purdue University 53%
North Carolina State University 47%

Auburn University 20 to 1
University of California, Berkeley 19 to 1
Texas A&M University 18 to 1
University of Texas at Austin 18 to 1
University of California, Los Angeles 18 to 1
University of Tennessee 18 to 1
University of Georgia 17 to 1
Ohio State University 17 to 1
Indiana University Bloomington 17 to 1
University of California, Santa Barbara 17 to 1

Columbia University $66,139
University of Southern California $64,726
Northwestern University $63,468
Stanford University $58,416
Emory University $57,948
Harvard University $57,261
University of Miami $57,194
Loyola University Maryland $53,430
University of Michigan $17,454
University of Louisville $12,324

University of Southern California $63,468
Stanford University $56,487
Harvard University $52,456
Columbia University $52,016
Northwestern University $51,869
Emory University $45,800
University of Miami $41,580
University of Michigan $25,894
Loyola University Maryland $18,900
University of Louisville $13,944

University of Louisville
Loyola University Maryland
Ohio State University
Columbia University
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
University of California, Los Angeles
Emory University
Texas A&M University
Harvard University
Northwestern University

Loyola University Maryland
Auburn University
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
University of Louisville
North Carolina State University
University of Tennessee
Texas A&M University
University of Georgia
University of Miami
University of Florida

Harvard University 3%
Columbia University 4%
Stanford University 4%
Northwestern University 7%
University of California, Los Angeles 9%
Emory University 11%
University of California, Berkeley 11%
University of Southern California 12%
University of Michigan 18%
University of Miami 19%

Stanford University 5 to 1
Columbia University 6 to 1
Northwestern University 6 to 1
Harvard University 7 to 1
University of Southern California 9 to 1
Emory University 9 to 1
University of Michigan 12 to 1
University of Miami 13 to 1
University of Louisville 13 to 1
Loyola University Maryland 13 to 1

University of Florida $4,477
North Carolina State University $6,535
University of Nebraska–Lincoln $7,770
Texas A&M University $8,815
Purdue University $9,718
University of Georgia $9,790
Indiana University Bloomington $10,012
Auburn University $10,392
University of Arizona $11,210
University of Tennessee $11,332

University of Nebraska–Lincoln $6,138
Texas A&M University $6,885
University of Georgia $8,878
North Carolina State University $9,095
Purdue University $9,718
Indiana University Bloomington $10,033
Auburn University $10,386
University of Florida $10,770
University of Tennessee $11,468
University of California, Los Angeles $11,700

The most influential college swimming and diving programs feature athletes with exceptional talent, skills, and dedication! Many have established a successful college career that resulted in their inclusion in Team USA and participation in the Olympics.

Indeed, college swimming and diving teams supply more than 90% of the US Olympic Team, an amateur-to-professional funnel that continues to inspire current and future athletes. Greats like Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky have helped to shape the sport, and were certainly influential in college swimming.

Of course, every successful student athlete wouldn’t be where they are now without the intensive support of a great coaching staff, access to state-of-the-art training programs and facilities, and the commitment to continuing growth and development in the sport. Every successful collegiate swimming and diving team benefits from the extensive support provided by their respective colleges and universities, too, from athletic scholarships and financial support to morale boosters.

The swimming and diving team event dates back to the first NCAA Championship titles in 1924. Then and now, the swim and dive events have been scored as a single event—and it has been the subject of controversy, too, considering that swimming is a racing competition while diving is based on a subjective awards point system.

Featured Programs

How We Determine the Most Influential Athletes

Academic Influence identified thousands of professional swimmers and divers who started their successful careers in collegiate sports. We covered the 2012-2022 period and the student-athletes and professional athletes who are or were in collegiate swimming and diving teams, respectively.

We used our machine learning-powered InfluenceRanking™ Engine in determining the swimmers and divers with the greatest influence on the sport, as measured by numerical scores of their citations across websites as well as their achievements and merits, winning one to four NCAA titles in different divisions and categories.

When the InfluenceRanking™ Engine has the cumulative scores for all swimmers and divers, including for First Division III swimmer, it then identifies the colleges and universities they are associated with. The colleges and universities are then ranked accordingly and their top 10 championship team athletes also featured.