Advocates pushing to save the historic Indian River State College swimming and diving teams scored a reprieve, at least a temporary one, on Tuesday when the school’s Board of Trustees voted to table the president’s recommendation to eliminate the program.
The Board has asked the school’s administration, led by president Dr. Timothy E. Moore, to prepare a report on the program to present at the Board’s next meeting on November 17, where the issue will be considered again.
Last week, the school posted an agenda for Tuesday’s Board of Trustees Governance & Legislative Affairs Committee meeting that included an item to vote on eliminating the swimming & diving programs. The proposed plan would be to transition all of the school’s athletic programs to NJCAA Division II – baseball, softball, and men’s basketball would join women’s volleyball, that already competes in Division II.
There was also an item to consider reinstating the women’s basketball team.
“We’ve won the battle, but not yet the war,” said freshman Tessa Sims, who has taken on a leadership role in the fight to save t
The men’s team won its 52nd consecutive NJCAA title this past March, extending the longest active championship streak in all of college athletics, while the Pioneers women’s program won its 48th straight championship.
The Indian River College swim & dive teams are led by head coach Sion Brinn, a former member of the Pioneers from 1991 until 1993 who competed at two Olympic Games, representing Jamaica in 1996 and Great Britain in 2000. Brinn has been the team’s head coach since 2013.
There are currently 22 women and 21 men on the Indian River swim & dive rosters.
The men are already 2-0 on the 2026-27 season, defeating Division I Florida Atlantic in September and NAIA St. Thomas last weekend, while the women are 1-1 after falling to FAU and topping the Bobcats.
The school is home to the Anne Wilder Aquatic Complex, which includes a 50-meter x 25-yard pool and a 25-meter x 25-yard diving well. That facility has been presented by advocates as one of the reasons why the move to cut the program was surprising.
