Virginia Athletics released a statement to the media Wednesday, announcing that the swimming and diving program will likely divest from diving for the 2025-26 season. This statement came in the wake of the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships Wednesday.
In the written statement, Erich Bacher, Associate Athletic Director for Athletic Communications, said that the decision was the result of strategic considerations.
“The U.Va. swimming and diving program will continue to assess how to strategically invest resources to compete for NCAA championships which may include the divestment of certain areas, including diving at this time,” Bacher wrote.
The announcement comes following rumors that Virginia Athletics was to cut its diving team.
Notably, within the past three seasons, the Cavaliers have had three different diving coaches. Drew Livingston was the coach from 2018-2022, but then left for Louisiana State. Josh Arndt then took Livingston’s place, but left to become Notre Dame’s diving coach earlier this season. The current interim coach, Jack Gigliotti, “has a full-time job outside of the sport and was not expected to return next season anyway,” according to Braden Keith of Swimswam.
Despite that coaching turnover, Virginia swimming and diving has excelled as a full team and is currently ranked No. 1 nationally. And should the Cavaliers win their fifth consecutive national championship March 22, they will have cemented one of the greatest dynasties in NCAA history.
Unfortunately, that dynasty will not feature any diving for the foreseeable future. Diving may account for few events in a meet — and therefore, few points — but it is a core part of the sport.
For Virginia in particular, star senior diver Lizzy Kaye has produced a stellar career and was named a First Team All-American following her 2023-24 season. However, no other Cavalier diver has achieved the same accolades throughout their career at Virginia.
The season for the swimming and diving team continues with the national championships March 19-22, and Kaye is the only qualifying diver for the Cavaliers.
In the announcement, Bacher said that the program would not be available for comment on the divestment.
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