The Week That Was: East Carolina University Brings Back Women’s Swimming; SEC & B1G Finalize Championships

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Purdue University will hold the Big Ten men's and women's diving championships. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

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The Week That Was sponsored by Suitmate.

East Carolina University, one of the first schools to eliminate swimming and diving this COVID offseason, announced it would be bringing back women’s swimming and diving effective immediately. In other college swimming news, the Southeastern Conference & Big Ten Conference each announced their championship plans for February, splitting up the men and women to two different sites.

Read below the five biggest stories in The Week That Was sponsored by Suitmate.

The Week That Was #1: East Carolina University to Bring Back Women’s Swimming

Photo Courtesy: East Carolina Athletics

By Andy Ross

East Carolina University will be bringing back women’s swimming and diving and women’s tennis to its intercollegiate sports effective immediately, according to a release from the school.

East Carolina was among the first Division I schools to cut swimming and diving this summer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to this, many swimmers have already transferred out of the program and the coaching staff have sought for jobs elsewhere. The university reduced the amount of intercollegiate programs by four this summer, and with the addition of women’s swimming and women’s tennis, the school now has 18 varsity programs and 11 women’s athletics programs.

“We are looking forward to having women’s swimming and diving along with women’s tennis return as a part of our sport offerings,” East Carolina University Athletics Director Jon Gilbert said. “When we went through the process of eliminating four programs in May, we understood we needed to reconstitute the athletic department in terms of sports programs and to do so while facing significant budget restraints due to COVID and its uncertainties.

“We worked directly with a Title IX consultant on how best to address our compliance with Title IX while also addressing our financial issues. Title IX is an ongoing commitment and it’s a priority for our university and athletics department,” he said.

#2: SEC & Big Ten Finalize Championship Schedules

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Photo Courtesy: Jeff Hanson / Alabama Athletics

By Matthew De George & Andy Ross

Details of the 2021 SEC Swimming Championships were announced Wednesday, with the events split over separate meets hosted by the University of Missouri and the University of Georgia.

The diving championships will be held Feb. 17-20 at Missouri’s Mizzou Aquatic Center. That facility will host the men’s swimming championships the following week, from Feb. 23-26.

The women’s swimming championships will be hosted at Georgia’s Gabrielsen Natatorium from Feb. 17-20. It’s the sixth time the SEC Swimming Championships have been hosted by Georgia, which last had hosting duties in 2019.

Both sets of championships allow three weeks before the NCAA Championships, to be held at Greensboro Aquatic Center for both men and women. The women are first, March 17-20, with the men to follow, March 24-27.

The SEC regular season will conclude no later than Jan. 25, with regionalized competition continuing. Many schools have announced their remaining regular-season schedules already, generally releasing them piecemeal through the season.

The Big Ten Conference has officially approved its dates for the 2021 championships, holding the meet across three different sites for the men’s, women’s and diving championships, confirmed in an email obtained by Swimming World.

The Big Ten diving championships will be held with both genders from February 24 – 27, 2021 at Purdue University, while the women’s swimming-only championships will be the same weekend at the University of Minnesota and the men’s swimming-only championships will be March 3 – 6 at The Ohio State University pending official confirmation from the OSU administration. Point totals from the diving championships will be added on to the respective men’s and women’s championship point totals.

The Big Ten Conference will be holding an abbreviated season that will officially get underway next weekend. Each school will be participating in three conference tri-meets across the next three weekends.

The Week That Was #3: Water Polo Olympians Start Petition Demanding Removal of USA Water Polo CEO, Board Chairman

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Photo Courtesy: Next Level Water Polo

By Dan D’Addona

More than 10 Olympic water polo players as well as former U.S. national team members, coaches and officials have joined forces to call for the removal of USA Water Polo CEO Christopher Ramsey and USA Water Polo board chairman Michael Graff.

The group of players, coaches and officials is part of more than 200 people who have signed an online petition calling for the leaders’ removal, according to the Orange County Register.

“As members of USAWP, we have no confidence in the judgement and leadership of Mike Graff and Chris Ramsey, and we ask the Board to immediately and permanently remove both from any and all positions or roles within USAWP,” the petition reads.

The petition, which was posted on Tuesday, Jan. 5, goes on to discuss the “alarming history” and “pattern of behavior by the leadership of USAWP.”

The authors of the petition include former USA Water Polo team captain Christopher Duplanty and is supported by U.S. Olympic coach Terry Schroeder (2008 and 2012), according to the Orange County Register.

The petition discusses the safety of athletes and the lack of communication and transparency by USA Water Polo leadership.

#4: German Federation Releases Revised Criteria For Tokyo

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Sarah Köhler – Photo Courtesy: Becca Wyant

By Liz Byrnes

The German Swimming Federation (DSV) has released revised qualification criteria for selection to the national team for the Olympics which are due to start in Tokyo on 23 July.

While the qualification times remain the same, the DSV and the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) have amended the nomination criteria to a team that will comprise a maximum of 17 women and 17 men.

Eight athletes including Florian Wellbrock – who became the first man to win the 1500 free and the 10km open water at a World Championships when he completed the double in Gwangju in July 2019 – have made the cut.

The revisions come as coronavirus continues to wreak havoc across the world with Germany in lockdown until the end of the month.

The revised criteria in order of priority is as follows:

  • Swimmers who achieved a top-four ranking at the 2019 FINA World Championships as well as the DSV Olympic time standard
  • Those who achieved the qualification time during the period of 1 January 2020 – 31 March 2020
  • Swimmers who achieve the qualification time during an approved competition on the first three weekends of April 2021

On top of Wellbrock, Sarah Kohler (800/1500 free), Franziska Hentke (200 fly) and Philip Heintz (200IM) all earned nominations at the worlds in Gwangju.

Laura Riedemann (100 back), Marco Koch (200br), Marius Kusch (100 fly) and Jacob Heidtmann (400IM) have also booked their tickets by virtue of their performances in spring 2020.

The Week That Was #5: IOC Remains Committed to Tokyo 2021 Despite State of Emergency

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The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Pool – Photo Courtesy: Tokyo2020

By Liz Byrnes

The International Olympic Committee has responded to the state of emergency declared in Tokyo by stating it has “full confidence” in the steps being taken and remains committed to the Olympics going ahead as scheduled in July.

So too did the IOC reiterate that vaccination is not mandatory in order for athletes to compete at the Olympics or Paralympics, a day after vice-president Dick Pound said the most realistic way of ensuring the Games would take place was to give them priority access.

Japan declared a state of emergency in the capital and three nearby areas on Thursday as coronavirus cases continue to surge with the Olympics due to start in a little over six months followed by the Paralympics.

Cases hit a daily record of 2,447 in Tokyo with prime minister Yoshihide Suga issuing the declaration which will run from Friday 8 January to 7 February.

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