Coronado High School senior Chloe Quarles thought she had her college future all set up. A top swimmer for the Islanders, she had signed a letter of intent with Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.
But, in a budget-cutting move this month, the university discontinued men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs, leaving Quarles stunned – with no team to swim for this fall, and a lot of unanswered questions.
Quarles said there is a chance she can transfer to another school and swim, but she’s not hopeful as most universities have already filled their rosters by now. And there are nine other newly committed women swimmers who also now have to find a new team as well – not including the rest of the Cal Poly swimmers on both the men’s and women’s team who might want to find new schools to swim for.
It’s a pretty forceful end to my swimming career because there’s not really much I can do to get back in before college.
Coronado High School senior Chloe Quarles
“It’s a pretty forceful end to my swimming career because there’s not really much I can do to get back in before college,” Quarles said.
According to a March 7 letter released by Jeffrey D. Armstrong, the president of the university, the “financial realities made the decision unavoidable.”
Armstrong is referencing a recent settlement in House v. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), a lawsuit in which the NCAA agreed to pay up to $2.8 billion to athletes while also restructuring college sports, allowing for student athletes in revenue sports to compete for fair compensation.
Approval of the settlement would enable institutions to distribute funds up to $20 million to Division I athletes who have played since 2016.
Which means universities affected, like Cal Poly, will lose money.
“The House v. NCAA settlement … will have a significant financial impact – resulting in a loss of at least $450,000 per year for our programs,” Armstrong wrote.
The final ruling of the settlement is expected on April 7.
Quarles swims the 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard individual medley, an event that has all four strokes, and qualified for California State Championships and Futures Championships.
Quarles said she knew about the lawsuit as she was deciding where to commit, but didn’t see Cal Poly’s swim team getting axed.
“Everyone was just worried about every non-revenue sport right now,” she said. “… So pretty much before you commit to any team, you kind of have to ask about it.
“We didn’t have any concerns at all about the program being cut, and neither did the coach,” Quarles said.
The class-action lawsuit filed in 2020 alleged that the NCAA’s restrictions on student-athlete compensation beyond scholarships violated antitrust laws. Two athletes from Arizona State University and Texas Christian University sought name, image and likeness (NIL) damages, claiming that the NCAA didn’t allow athletes the ability to earn money from their NIL.
Because of the settlement, universities all around the country have a payout resulting in budget cuts to other programs – especially non-revenue sports such as swimming.
“Pretty much every sport that doesn’t make money for a school has a chance of being cut,” Quarles said.
Still, Cal Poly just had its best season. The men’s team had its first undefeated season in Division I history and the women achieved their all-time highest team score while breaking a decade-old school relay record.
So, Quarles said, she had no idea this was the team that would end up being cut, and that this was how her swimming career might ultimately end.
Meanwhile, she retains a bit of hope for Cal Poly, as there is a GoFundMe circulating trying to reinstate the swimming and diving teams.
“No matter what, I’ll keep working to try and find a spot, but the dream is Cal Poly,” Quarles said. “Definitely not anywhere else.”
