Indian River Funds in Question by Legal Documents as School Prepares to Eliminate Swimming and Diving
As outrage in the swimming community continues about the possible cutting of Indian River swimming and diving, questions have arisen about how much the school would save and if it is worth the elimination of a national powerhouse program.
There are three parts to Indian River’s plan to be voted on by the board of trustees on Oct. 27.
The first is to “Eliminate both the Men’s & Women’s Swimming and Diving programs, effective at the start of the Fall 2027-28 academic year.” The second is a transition for baseball, softball and men’s basketball to Division II competition, joining volleyball. The third is an evaluation of the cost feasibility to reinstate the women’s basketball program.
No specific money figures have been released by the school and a petition to save the program has already received more than 10,000 signatures.
According to public records obtained by a Swimming World source, Federal EADA data puts the two swim teams at $848,865 a year, less than half of one percent of IRSC’s $175.5 million operating budget, and both teams cost less per athlete than the program average.
The college budgeted a $12.7 million deficit in 2025 but finished about $2.4 million positive. The Foundation, the school’s official fundraising group, reported more than $150 million in net assets, according to sources.
In recent years, Indian River has publicly given two contradictory accounts of who pays for athletics: “exclusively” private donations (on its giving page) versus student activity fees, which a spokesperson in 2024 was quoted as indicating.
If that wasn’t enough, there is a pending whistleblower lawsuit from the former Indian River CFO Marvin Pyles (Pyles v. IRSC, Case No. 2026-CA-000486).
The lawsuit names IRSC President Timothy Moore and all eight members of the IRSC District Board of Trustees as defendants, suing the trustees in their official capacities.
In the suit, text messages attributed to the school’s president describe “10M pissed away” and a “75M mismanagement scheme,” an ERP system that ballooned from $8.8 million authorized to about $26 million, and Foundation money paying for family trips to Europe on a personal card that was “not subject to auditors” and that “the DBOT never saw.”
“I came to Indian River State College in good faith to do my job, and what I uncovered was millions of dollars in fraud,” Pyles told CBS12 News reporter Katie Bente. “I’m talking about false vendors, stacked purchase orders, and money being transferred from the foundation.”
Moore attributes most of this to the prior administration, and these are allegations no court has ruled on.
“Indian River State College does not comment on pending litigation. Dr. Pyles has raised the same complaints in other forums and each time has been unsuccessful,” Indian River said in a prepared statement to CBS12.
While all of this is still pending, the board is preparing to eliminate a program that has won 52 and 48 straight national titles to save less than $850,000.
“It is a slap in the face to everyone who got up for early practices, gave up personal events to train, and gave their time back to the school and the community,” a former Indian River swimmer said.