Virginia Swimming Opens Season in College Swimming League

The University of Virginia's men's and women's swimming teams will start their season on Friday, September 25. They will compete in Match 2 of the College Swimming League against Alabama, Georgia, and NC State, according to the university's athletics website.

All league matches will be streamed online on either ESPN+ or SEC Network+. The CSL consists of 12 of the nation's top collegiate swimming programs.

The 12 teams in the league are:

Each team will compete in two of the six regular-season matches. The season concludes with two post-season matches. Teams finishing the regular season ranked 1st through 3rd will advance automatically to the final. Teams ranked 4th through 7th will meet in a wild card match, with only one advancing to join the final. Teams ranked 8th through 12th will not advance to the post-season.

Competition and Scoring Format

Each regular-season match features four teams. Points are awarded based on a team's overall finish in the match: first place earns four points, second gets three, third receives two, and fourth gets one point. The matches are dual gender, with points from men's and women's events combining into a single team score for each school.

Each institution fields a roster of 28 swimmers, with 14 men and 14 women. Schools must enter two athletes in every individual event and field two relay teams for relay events. An individual athlete may enter up to three individual events and two relay events.

Skins and Super Skins Events

The league incorporates special elimination-style events. Skins events are individual races contested over 50 yards per round. The same stroke is used in every round, with the top finishers advancing. The stroke-butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, or freestyle-is selected by the institution that wins the corresponding gender's 4x50 Freestyle Relay.

Super Skins are elimination-style relay events. Every round is contested as a full 200 Medley Relay (4x50), with teams eliminated each round. The source notes that Super Skins count as a relay event for athlete participation limits, while Skins do not.

Both Skins and Super Skins follow the same elimination structure, cumulative scoring, between-rounds procedures, and rules for tied-place advancement. The unique stroke selection rule applies only to the Skins event.

Event Lineup and Jackpot Scoring

The competition features a set lineup of events. The source lists them as: 500 free, 200 breast, 200 back, 200 free relay, 200 fly, 100 IM, 100 back, 100 free, Skins, 200 IM, 100 breast, 50 free, 100 fly, 200 free, and Super Skins (200 medley relay).

In addition to the standard point system, the league uses a "jackpot" scoring feature. Winning swimmers can take additional points from lower-finishing swimmers. The university's report describes this as similar to the system used by the International Swimming League.