Pac-12 Men’s Meet Moving to Washington, Starting One Day After Women’s Meet

PHOENIX, Arizona, January 18. A pool closure has forced the Pac-12 conference's men's swimming championships to find a new location, and that place will be the Weyerhauser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash., beginning the day after the completion of the women's conference meet.

The decision was made today in a conference call, said Utah head coach Greg Winslow. Though the new location is not surprising — Federal Way has hosted the conference championships often in the past — what could be a precedent-setting move is putting the meet immediately after the women's championships.

The women's meet will run February 28 through March 2, with the men's meet running March 3-6. Typically, the men's conference meet takes place the weekend after the women's meet to better mesh with the NCAA championship calendar. But with four of the nine Pac-12 schools with swimming programs containing combined programs, this could be a stress and budget reliever for those four coaches.

The move was initiated by the closure in December of the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach, Calif., which was to serve as the site for the men's meet. The Belmont pool was found structurally unstable and will close for about four months for repairs.

Winslow said the Pac-12 Senior Women Administrators at each participating school will need to approve the location and date change before it's official, but believes that will happen soon so programs have the opportunity to change travel and lodging accommodations.

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