GCU swimming and diving to join The Big West

Grand Canyon has accepted an invite to The Big West for its swimming and diving programs beginning in the 2025-26 season, joining the premier men's and women's swimming and diving conference in the West.

"GCU is very excited to join The Big West as an affiliate member in swimming and diving," Vice President of Athletics Jamie Boggs said. "The Big West has added swimming and diving as a newly sponsored sport and rapidly built it into an ambitious, stable and competitive league. GCU is looking forward to competing for championships in the premier men's and women's swimming and diving conference in the West."

The Lopes will be immediately eligible upon entry to vie for the conference championship and to represent The Big West in NCAA Championships.

The Big West added swimming and diving to its list of sponsored sports beginning in the 2024-25 academic year. When GCU joins with Seattle U and San Diego for 2025-26, the Lopes will be one of seven men's programs and one of nine women's programs:

Men's programs: Cal Poly, Cal State Bakersfield, Grand Canyon, Hawai'i, Seattle U, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara.
Women's programs: Cal Poly, Cal State Bakersfield, Grand Canyon, Hawai'i, San Diego, Seattle U, UC Davis, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara.

"Since adding men's and women's swimming and diving for the 2024-25 season, The Big West has looked for ways to bolster and strengthen our western foothold and overall competitiveness," Big West Commissioner Dan Butterly said. "The addition of these five programs is a positive step in strengthening swimming and diving, and we welcome these highly-competitive programs and their fans into The Big West."

The finalization of a new conference home will officially mark the end of the program's WAC era. The Lopes are coming off their most competitive stretch at the Division I level with back-to-back second-place finishes for both genders at the WAC Championships. The men's team also won the 2019 WAC Championship.

"We are very excited about competing in The Big West next year," GCU head coach Steve Schaffer said. "It is a great group of programs, and we look forward to developing relationships and competing with all of them. The WAC has been a great conference for us and we are grateful for our time there. We look forward to the new challenge that Big West Swimming and Diving will offer us."

The Lopes' final season as WAC members is set to get underway in October with the WAC Championships in Houston, Texas, in late February.

Grand Canyon University Athletics

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