British Swimmer Triggers NCAA Compliance Investigation

PLYMOUTH, England, March 18. A British swimmer named Caroline Ball has caused a bit of a stir within the NCAA swimming community due to an article in The Herald in Plymouth, England.

The article, published last month on Feb. 11, kicked off an internal investigation of Indiana University. Ball, who is billed as an Olympic hopeful in the article, stated that she had received a partial scholarship to Indiana University and was looking for sponsorship dollars to cover the rest of her education expenses.

"It's a great offer to go to Indiana and I'm convinced it will help achieve my goal of competing at next year's Olympics in London, " Ball told The Herald. "Indiana have (sic) a great reputation in improving swimmers, like me, who are close to stepping up to the next level. And so, I'm absolutely thrilled and proud to have been offered a scholarship which I intend to take up in August. The university is generous and will cover most of the fees, but I will have to pay for my living accommodation myself. So, basically, I'm looking for a sponsor or sponsors to help me fund part or most of the costs. In return, I'd do my best to make sure any potential sponsors' contributions would not go unrewarded. I'd try and give them as much public recognition as I possibly could."

Receiving, or pursuing, any sponsorship dollars is an NCAA violation as it relates to amateurism and professionalism statutes.

After being informed of the existence of the article, in which the author clearly indicated that the "Indiana" referred to by Ball in her quote was Indiana University, Indiana Athletics immediately began an internal investigation into the claims.

"Once our compliance office received word of this story, it immediate began work to get to the bottom of things as it was well aware of the fact that Caroline was not an IU recruit," IU spokesperson Melanie Schneider told Swimming World. "After several phone calls and emails, we received a response from the newspaper that ran the original story. According to Bill Richards, the chief sports writer at The Herald, [Ball] confirmed to him that she is hoping to attend Valparaiso University, which is located in Indiana. This situation shows the importance of rules education with recruits, whether foreign or domestic. It also shows that schools must continue to be vigilant in monitoring how their names are used and to follow through in correcting any inaccurate reports."

Swimming World then followed this next link in the story chain, and contacted Valparaiso Athletics representatives. After initial indications that our request was the first time the school had heard of the issue, we were given what is tantamount to a no comment.

"Our coaches speak to many prospective students who are interested in becoming student-athletes at Valparaiso every year," Valparaiso Associate Director of Athletics/Senior Woman Administrator Jennifer Samble told Swimming World. "NCAA rules prohibit institutions from commenting on a specific prospective student's position in the process."

Swimming World has left a message with NCAA media relations regarding this situation, but has not received a response. Check back for the NCAA's comment when it is available.

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