California Baptist Drops Men’s Swimming and Diving in Restructuring
California Baptist on Friday announced that it will discontinue its men’s swimming and diving program among three sports being dropped.
The school announced the discontinuation of wrestling, men’s golf and men’ swimming and diving at the conclusion of the 2025-26 seasons. Women’s swimming and diving will continue.
The moves are connected to the Lancers’ move into the Big West Conference after the 2025-26 academic year.
“We have closely monitored the shifting landscape of intercollegiate athletics that has affected institutions across the nation,” Vice President for Athletics Micah Parker said in a press release. “While we had hoped to continue offering our full slate of athletic programs in this new environment, it has become clear that changes are required to realize the university’s goal of achieving greater competitive excellence that the new Division I era demands.”
The university has pledged to assist affected athletes by honoring athletic financial aid packages to remain at the school or helping those wishing to transfer.
The program is leaving behind a rich history at a variety of levels. California Baptist is competing in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation this year after being a member of the Western Athletic Conference from 2018-25, finishing second in the conference last year and no worse than third each of the last three years on the men’s side. The Lancers sent Remi Fabiani, now at Arizona State, to NCAAs in 2025. The men have earned 58 All-American honors from 12 individuals at the CSCAA National Invitational Championship meet since the elevation to Division I.
Cal Baptist was an NAIA school until 2011, winning four men’s national titles and three women’s crowns with 12 combined runner-up results. It rose to Division II, then elevated to Division I in 2018.
The Lancers have a full roster of 24 male athletics. Jim Bossert is the head swim coach of both the men’s and women’s team, while Miranda King is the head coach of men’s and women’s diving.