Poll of the Week: Should NCAA Athletes Earn Prize Money in Off Season?

PHOENIX, Arizona, April 15. RECENTLY US Masters Swimming banned Lance Armstrong from Masters swimming competitions after the former Tour de France legend signed up for a meet in Austin, Texas. USMS was going along with the World Anti-Doping Code, which was following the ban the United States Anti-Doping Agency placed on Armstrong. The Masters community has come out in force with their thoughts on whether Armstrong should be involved in Masters swimming, and the results of our poll show that the community is still fairly divided on the matter. Almost 53 percent of voters said Armstrong should be allowed to compete in Masters swimming, while 47 percent said no. To see how divided people are on this situation, go to any of our articles related to Lance Armstrong on swimmingworld.com and read the comments posted on them.

The Arena Grand Prix series is underway in Mesa, Arizona, and while several postgrad swimmers are earning some nice paychecks, the college swimmers who are placing in the top three are required to turn down the cash they earn at the meet due to NCAA rules. Our new poll question asks you to consider whether college athletes should be allowed to earn money at these meets in the off-season. We give you four options. The first one is yes, give them all the money they earn. Second is yes, but only up to a certain amount. Third is yeas, and let them earn money DURING the NCAA season as well. And finally, no, keep them as amateur as possible. Go to our home page on swimmingworld.com and vote in the poll on the right side of the page. The poll runs through the morning of April 19, and we'll bring you the results on next Friday's show.

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