Most rosters are built one way: recruit high-school seniors, develop four years. Tampa builds differently, and its bios say so out loud: 16 of 65 arrived from another college. 12 grew up abroad — Hungary, Sweden, Barbados, Peru. If the first plan didn't work out, or started on another continent, this page is what the second plan looks like in numbers. Season medians: 24.46 (women's 50 free), 21.28 (men's). Check where your swimmer lands against this roster — free.
University of Tampa swimming at a glance
| Division | NCAA II |
| Current roster | 69 swimmers (35 women, 34 men) |
| Acceptance rate | 40.3% |
| Cost of attendance | $51,614 |
| Aid for internationals | merit only |
| Graduation rate | 63.7% |
| Median earnings (10 yr) | $59,436 |
| Women at age 16 (50 free, median) | 24.91 (n=26) |
| Men at age 16 (50 free, median) | 22.20 (n=23) |
Start with the money, because here it actually exists
At the D3 academic schools in this series, athletic scholarships are prohibited by rule. Tampa is Division II — athletic money is legal here, and the school's recorded international aid is merit-based. That changes the entire negotiation: a 40.3% acceptance rate handles admission, and the real conversation is how much of the $51,614 sticker the coach and merit aid can take down. The honest counterweights, stated plainly: a 63.7% graduation rate and $59,436 median earnings — both well behind the academic tier. Tampa's offer is scholarship money, Florida, and a genuinely open second door; the degree economics are the price of that offer.
The bar: what the room swims now
| Group | Event | Fastest | Median | Racers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women | 50 free | 22.78 | 24.46 | 30 |
| Women | 100 IM | 57.96 | 1:00.11 | 30 |
| Men | 50 free | 19.11 | 21.28 | 27 |
| Men | 100 fly | 46.46 | 49.60 | 23 |
The top end is D1-grade — a 19.1 fifty, a 46.4 fly — while the medians sit inside a strong club senior's reach. Division II's whole appeal lives in that gap. Where the room is thin: the men's mile (6) and 1000 (7), the women's 200 back (8) and 200 fly (9); where it is packed: 30 women in the sprint groups. Full 36-event tables at the bottom.
Rewind the roster to 16
| Group | Event | On record | Fastest | Top 25% | Median | Slowest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women | 50 free | 26 of 35 | 23.39 | 24.18 | 24.91 | 27.47 |
| Women | 100 im | 7 of 35 | 59.39 | 59.88 | 1:02.29 | 1:03.65 |
| Men | 50 free | 23 of 34 | 20.82 | 21.40 | 22.20 | 23.41 |
| Men | 100 fly | 22 of 34 | 48.76 | 49.65 | 51.55 | 58.97 |
A 27.47 sixteen-year-old is on this roster today, and a flyer who split 58.97 at sixteen trains in a room whose fly median is 49.60. Add the quarter of the roster that transferred in — for whom the sixteen-year-old number mattered even less than the nineteen-year-old one — and Tampa's is the most forgiving timeline in this series short of Rose-Hulman's. Place your swimmer's time against it here.
Half this team is in the business school
Tampa's bios are unusually complete — 64 of 65 declare a major — and 33 of the 64 chose business, with health sciences at 17. The campus tilts the same way but less steeply: business is 1,289 of 4,135 degrees over two years (31%), led by marketing (306) and finance (296). A 52%-business team on a 31%-business campus: if the door you're using swimming to open is a marketing or finance classroom in the sun, this specific door leads exactly there.
Who walks through the door
Florida supplies 14 of 59 mapped hometowns, Georgia 7, Illinois 5, Ontario 3. The international dozen: Hungary, England, Sweden (2 each), Barbados, Poland, Czech Republic, Peru, Slovakia. Five national-teamers, 9 captains. And one figure that separates Tampa from every power-conference page in this series: the roster went 70 → 69 — no squeeze. Seats here are not vanishing mid-cycle.
The other second-route school: Keiser, across the state... and a different trade
Florida hosts two second-chance programs in this series, and they are instructive to read side by side:
| Tampa | Keiser | |
|---|---|---|
| League | NCAA II | NAIA |
| W / M 50 free median | 24.46 / 21.28 | 24.90 / 21.78 |
| Transfers in | 16 of 65 | 9 of 40 |
| International share | 12 of 65 | 27 of 40 |
| Acceptance | 40.3% | 97.0% |
| Cost | $51,614 | $43,251 |
| Graduation | 63.7% | 61.0% |
| Median earnings | $59,436 | $39,696 |
| Full breakdown | this page | decision page · recruiting analysis |
Nearly identical water speed. The differences are everything else: Tampa is the NCAA credential, the American-majority locker room, and a $19,740 earnings edge; Keiser is the wider-open door and the deeper European pipeline. A family holding a 24-mid/21-high fifty should read both analyses, then run the time against all 539.
FAQ
How fast to swim at Tampa? Medians 24.46 (women's 50 free) and 21.28 (men's); at 16, today's roster held 24.91 and 22.20, tails to 27.47.
Does Tampa give swimming scholarships? Division II may award athletic aid and Tampa's international aid is merit-only — confirm current money with the staff directly.
Is transferring in realistic? 16 of 65 current bios did it — the highest transfer share in this series.
Which lanes are open? Men's 1650 (6) and 1000 (7); women's 200 back (8) and 200 fly (9).
Reference: full event benchmarks
Short course yards, best time per swimmer, season results through 2026-03-14; "median" = the middle swimmer of those who raced.
Women — all 18 events
| Event | Swimmers | Fastest | Top 25% | Median | 75th pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 free | 30 | 22.78 | 23.64 | 24.46 | 26.07 |
| 100 free | 26 | 49.71 | 51.61 | 52.44 | 54.16 |
| 200 free | 21 | 1:48.05 | 1:51.76 | 1:53.42 | 1:55.04 |
| 500 free | 13 | 4:49.27 | 4:54.91 | 5:02.86 | 5:06.92 |
| 1000 free | 9 | 9:59.98 | 10:03.83 | 10:18.20 | 10:26.23 |
| 1650 free | 7 | 16:47.29 | 16:56.68 | 17:20.08 | 17:26.08 |
| 50 back | 14 | 25.59 | 26.28 | 27.33 | 28.35 |
| 100 back | 14 | 54.35 | 55.79 | 56.98 | 59.59 |
| 200 back | 8 | 1:56.71 | 1:57.90 | 2:00.91 | 2:05.23 |
| 50 breast | 12 | 28.94 | 29.31 | 29.96 | 30.23 |
| 100 breast | 11 | 1:02.04 | 1:02.77 | 1:03.55 | 1:04.43 |
| 200 breast | 12 | 2:14.41 | 2:16.83 | 2:17.81 | 2:18.54 |
| 50 fly | 17 | 24.93 | 25.80 | 26.02 | 26.53 |
| 100 fly | 25 | 54.24 | 55.80 | 57.55 | 1:00.86 |
| 200 fly | 9 | 1:58.99 | 2:03.21 | 2:06.75 | 2:11.20 |
| 100 im | 30 | 57.96 | 59.05 | 1:00.11 | 1:01.27 |
| 200 im | 18 | 2:01.12 | 2:04.38 | 2:05.51 | 2:09.00 |
| 400 im | 15 | 4:14.09 | 4:24.33 | 4:28.04 | 4:35.25 |
Men — all 18 events
| Event | Swimmers | Fastest | Top 25% | Median | 75th pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 free | 27 | 19.11 | 20.65 | 21.28 | 21.63 |
| 100 free | 22 | 42.82 | 44.26 | 45.17 | 46.23 |
| 200 free | 19 | 1:33.10 | 1:36.91 | 1:39.45 | 1:42.09 |
| 500 free | 9 | 4:14.35 | 4:23.05 | 4:27.78 | 4:35.89 |
| 1000 free | 7 | 8:47.23 | 9:04.77 | 9:07.83 | 9:16.21 |
| 1650 free | 6 | 14:51.81 | 15:15.21 | 15:26.78 | 15:39.03 |
| 50 back | 10 | 21.43 | 22.30 | 23.18 | 23.22 |
| 100 back | 10 | 46.47 | 47.37 | 48.81 | 49.66 |
| 200 back | 8 | 1:43.18 | 1:44.37 | 1:46.35 | 1:47.42 |
| 50 breast | 11 | 24.61 | 25.21 | 25.71 | 26.61 |
| 100 breast | 11 | 53.91 | 54.25 | 54.69 | 57.75 |
| 200 breast | 9 | 1:55.57 | 2:00.26 | 2:02.62 | 2:05.86 |
| 50 fly | 16 | 20.74 | 22.04 | 22.44 | 22.79 |
| 100 fly | 23 | 46.46 | 48.20 | 49.60 | 53.05 |
| 200 fly | 15 | 1:44.59 | 1:46.60 | 1:49.00 | 1:51.84 |
| 100 im | 7 | 49.13 | 49.85 | 50.33 | 52.34 |
| 200 im | 17 | 1:44.68 | 1:46.87 | 1:50.16 | 1:51.99 |
| 400 im | 11 | 3:49.30 | 3:58.81 | 3:59.89 | 4:01.75 |
Data: swimtocollege.com database — current-season results for all 69 rostered swimmers across 36 event benchmarks; age-16 marks traced from 10M+ U.S. race results; transfers, origins and majors from 65 published biographies; admissions, cost and earnings from U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard, 2025-26 records. Distributions of who made this roster — never an individual's odds.