The Week That Was: Top Swimming Headlines From Around the World

Photo Courtesy: Kelly Price

The swimming community around the United States showed its support for a high school in mourning, and several big headlines concerning world swimming had people buzzing in the past few days. Those are some of the top five headlines we’re reviewing on this edition of The Week That Was.

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The Week That Was #5: Cuba hosting first major aquatic sports event in 24 years

Cuba hasn’t hosted an international sporting event since the 1991 Pan American Games, but that streak ended last weekend with the Pan American junior diving championships on the southern coastal city of Mantazas. The meet featured 130 young athletes from 10 nations, with a couple of champions from the 2013 meet returning for more hardware. Cuba still has great aquatics facilities, with the pool used for the Pan American Games in Havana reportedly still in use and the Mantazas Aquatic Center also a top-notch venue.

The Week That Was #4: World Swimming Association continues to take shape in effort to topple FINA

In the month since coaches gathered at the American Swimming Coaches Association’s world clinic and agreed to form an organization that would overtake FINA as the world’s swimming federation, the World Swimming Association has begun to establish bylaws. One of the rules concerns how the board of directors is picked. The WSA will allow the top 15 nations in the world to elect at least one member to the governing board, and in some cases, one of the nation’s picks must be an athlete.

The WSA’s headquarters would be in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (the same city where ASCA has its headquarters) and appears to have more transparency than FINA, at least in terms of its plan for governing the sport.

The Week That Was #3: Ning Zetao injured at World Military Games

Ning Zetao, the reigning world champion in the 100 freestyle, had to withdraw early from the World Military Games in Korea due to an injured shoulder caused during the warmup session on the day of the 100 free. Reports indicate that swimmer jumped into the pool and hit Ning in the shoulder. Ning swam the 100 free prelims, but was in so much pain that he did not swim well. He and his coaches made the decision to pull out of the meet.

Ning didn’t suffer any major damage, at least none that can’t be healed with some physical therapy. He should be in condition to get back into training for a chance to add Olympic gold to his world championship gold.

The Week That Was #2: College dual meets offer exciting matchups

We don’t see many ties in the final scores at college dual meets, but we got one last weekend in the women’s meet between Minnesota and Florida. The two teams were very evenly matched on Saturday, and the result was a 150-150 draw. Another nailbiter of a meet was the dual between the Georgia and North Carolina women. On the line was Georgia’s 10-year winning streak at home, and the streak continued as the Bulldogs won by four points, with the meet coming down to the final relay.

Reigning NCAA champion Ryan Murphy started his season with some very strong swims in California’s dual meet against Pacific, including a 46.21 leading off the 400 medley relay. Josh Prenot and Andrew Seliskar also swam fast, setting up a great season for the Bears.

Another thrilling meet was the Alabama vs. Auburn dual meet, where Auburn’s Joe Patching put up the fastest 200 back so far this season with a 1:43.66, and Alabama’s Kristian Gkolomeev swam a quick 19.87 in the 50 free. Alabama’s 200 medley relay was also fast, putting up a 1:21.3 that is going to be tough to beat in the next few months. The in-state battle had Auburn winning the men’s and women’s meets.

The Week That Was #1: Community unites around death of Sumner Smith

The Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tenn., was shocked by the news that 16-year-old Sumner Smith died after suffering from a cardiac event during a swim practice on Monday evening. Since then, the school community created the hashtag #sumnerstrong, and it became a way for teams across the country to show their support for the school and Smith’s family.

Many teams posed for photos with signs displaying the hashtag throughout the week and posted them on social media. The exact details regarding Smith’s death have not been made public, but now the community is more focused on healing, and so far, we’ve seen how supportive the swimming world can be.

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