IRVINE, Calif. — The Big West has announced Grand Canyon men's and women's, Seattle University men's and women's and the University of San Diego's women's programs have accepted invitations to join the conference as affiliate members in swimming and diving beginning with the 2025-26 season. 

All three programs will be immediately eligible upon entry to vie for The Big West championships and to represent The Big West in NCAA championships.  

GCU and Seattle U previously competed in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), while San Diego was a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). 

Competing in the 2024 MPSF championships, San Diego's women's program turned in 18 lifetime bests and 42 season bests as the Toreros finished ninth overall. 

"Since adding men's and women's swimming and diving for the 2024-25 season, The Big West has looked for ways to bolster and strengthen our western foothold and overall competitiveness," Big West Commissioner Dan Butterly noted. "The addition of these five programs is a positive step in strengthening swimming & diving and we welcome these highly competitive programs and their fans into The Big West." 

"The University of San Diego is thrilled to be joining The Big West as an affiliate member in Swimming and Diving," University of San Diego Executive Director of Athletics Kimya Massey noted. "As the industry rapidly changes around us, we are always looking for the best opportunities for our student-athletes to have competitive challenges, both regionally and nationally. Competing in this new championship will allow for both of those opportunities. We are excited for the next chapter for these programs and grateful for this opportunity." 

"I'm really excited for this move of USD Swimming and Diving into the Big West starting in the 2025-2026 season," said San Diego head coach Mike Keeler. "It's great to be reacquainted at the conference level with many of the teams we have recently faced. I'd like to thank Commissioner Dan Butterly for the invitation and for his forward thinking on ways to improve the conference. I also want to give a big shout-out to our athletic director, Kimya Massey, for his unwavering support on improving the scholar-athlete experience as we progress through these ever-changing times in college athletics."

These additions of GCU and Seattle U will give The Big West seven competing programs in men's swimming and diving, joining Cal Poly, Cal State Bakersfield, Hawai'i, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara. Adding the women's program at San Diego will bring the total number of Big West women's swimming and diving programs to nine with UC Davis also competing alongside each program who sponsors the sport on the men's side.