Dual Meet Fever: How College Swimming Looks to Promote Its Product
“There’s no place like home.” It’s a common cliche, but for college athletes, it couldn’t be truer. From images of the raucous crowds for LSU football games in Death Valley, to the historic fervor of Nebraska volleyball in recent years, every college athlete dreams of his/her moment in the spotlight. But for the college swimmer, that dream has long gone unrealized.
For years, even the most elite college swim meets have struggled with attendance. The length of meets, lack of support from universities, and even the competitions themselves have long been cited as reasons for the struggles. But over the past few years, a new movement has arisen: one to make dual meets popular events.
College swim programs across the country are experimenting with the “swim meet” experience, an attempt to draw crowds. The programs are looking to draw in new audiences through a fan-friendly experience, reminiscent of other well-attended college sports.
With a newfound interest in creating excitement around its competitions, programs are breaking attendance records left and right. But is the progress sustainable? We took a look at how colleges are marketing their dual meets, and how it could impact the college swimming landscape.
Allegiance to an Audience
For years, college swimming has struggled to draw fans beyond parents and swimming superfans. Swimming’s presence as an “Olympic sport” brings a negative connotation, with the sport not drawing the television audiences or rabid fanbases of sports like football and basketball. To Louisville Associate Director of Marketing Anne Burkhead, however, there remains a path to success, through creating an audience.
“We’ve looked to appeal to student groups, on-campus groups, and even some local swim clubs,” Burkhead said. “It’s been about catering to groups who have the time to come to meets, which so often fall during the workday and midweek.”
Promoting the Product
There are many ways to tap into this interest. But programs like Louisville have often looked to promotions directly targeted at this audience, in order to incentivize interest. Plenty of examples have existed throughout college swimming this year. LSU offered free rally towels to the first 100 fans at its dual meet against Kentucky. Alaska gave out bucket hats for its meet against Puget Sound, and Louisville offered free food for its meet against the Wildcats. Burkhead pointed to these incentives as key.
“It’s just about doing the smaller things that people can get connected with,” she said. “That’s what makes the most impact.”
Some schools have gone as far as to create “promotional schedules” and giveaways for their dual meets, like Purdue and Florida. The concept goes directly in line with successful strategies of larger, more successfully marketed sports, proven to draw interest. Through a small financial investment, the programs can mold the atmosphere they’ve dreamed of.
Flipping the Format
Promotions and incentives are one way to play to a crowd. But they ignore one of the biggest critiques of college swimming itself: its format. College dual meets last around 2.5- 3 hours on average, with the traditional dual meet including 16 different events.
The length can be hard for casual fans to digest, especially when combined with the scoring system. Dual meets are scored with the 9-4-3-2-1-0 system for individual events, and 11-4-2-0 system for relays, but this can be difficult to track over the course of the meet. The confusion can create a less competitive atmosphere, through an uncertainty of the meet’s stakes.
It’s a trend that college programs have looked to buck, drawing more attention by creating more digestible competition. The “Dual Meet Tournament” this past October was a prime example, with teams swimming against each other in nine-event meets, within a “bracket” format. The event’s shorter format created more competition between the teams, largely regarded as a success.
Some teams have looked instead to make minor changes to the dual-meet format, in order to draw interest. Cal and Stanford swam mixed relays at their annual “triple distance meet” (50s, 100s, and 200s of every event) this year, adding a fun wrinkle to a traditional event. Little twists on the typical expectations of meets can draw in an audience, by creating excitement.
There are definitely varying levels to which the meet structure is tweaked across the country, and disadvantages to such. Coaches seek to use dual meets as practice for their championship meets, the reasoning for the current structure.
Environment is Everything
The methods discussed have done a great job attempting to draw in attendees. What they don’t factor in, however, is the need to create an enticing environment within the physical natatorium.
“It’s important to do different things to boost the atmosphere for the fans and the team,” Burkhead said.
The Associate Director pointed to the team’s usage of a DJ and a live band in recent meets, as an example of elevating their product within the arena. Teams like the University of Virginia and Howard University have utilized similar tactics to create a more lively setting.
“It gives (the team) something to build off of,” she said. “It really makes every meet competitive.”
Forecasting the Future
The marketability of swimming dual meets has grown significantly in recent years. To Burkhead, though, the process is just getting started.
“We’re still learning how to market these athletes in the post-NIL world,” she said, referring to an issue common among all sports. With collegiate athletes able to earn revenue, it creates new opportunities, but new challenges. Growth will likely continue in the years to come, as schools adjust to the ecosystem and find ways to promote their teams. While the environments of a raucous college football game may be far away, the sport looks to close the gap.
“It’s different and so hard to see what people are receptive to,” Burkhead said. “But we’re growing with the athletes and the staff.”
