Swim Poll of the Week: 63% Believe Texas Will Win Division I NCAA Men's Meet
Channel: swimmingworldtv
Date: 2021-03-25

This is the Swim Poll of the Week for Thursday March 25, 2021, sponsored by Strechcordz Swim Training Products. In our last poll, we wanted to know: Who do you think will win the NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships?

A year ago, all eyes were on the Cal and Texas men’s swimming and diving teams in what looked to be one of the greatest NCAA Championship duels ever. Sadly, the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out that showdown, but spirits are running high one year later—not only for that much anticipated Cal-Texas confrontation, but for the simple fact that college swimmers will again be able to come together and compete at a national championship.

Cal and Texas have had some extremely close clashes over the years at the men’s NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships—especially the past few seasons. But none were as highly anticipated as 2020 after Cal had won the year before, snapping a Texas four-peat.

Then COVID-19 happened, prompting Cal’s Reece Whitley to say, “It was the fastest NCAAs that nobody ever saw!”


Now a junior on the team that will be vying to win back-to-back team titles, Whitley added, “I think both teams were ready to do something that the swimming world hadn’t seen before. With it being an Olympic year, we were on a roll. We had some dogs who were chomping at the bit. (Coach) Dave (Durden) had us on a leash…and we were ready to break loose.”

As swimmers prepare for their first national college championship meet in two years, that same vibe is slowly taking shape, with Cal and Texas preparing for another elite showdown.