Swimming World Presents “Voice for the Sport: The Best Time of Year in Swimming”

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Photo Courtesy: Andy Ringgold / Aringo Photos

Voice for the Sport: The Best Time of Year

Commentary by Joel Shinofield, CSCAA Executive Director

Some people look forward to March Madness, but I look forward to Championship Month.

In just about every corner of the country, you can find a swimming and diving conference championship meet in February followed by the NJCAA, NAIA and all three levels of the NCAA Championships in March. I realize that’s more than a month, but it’s a bonus for all of us!

This year, the College Swimming Coaches Association of America adds to the championship season by relaunching the CSCAA National Invitational Championship with our partner, Speedo, and our host, the United States Naval Academy.

As the NCAA meet has become the most exclusive in the world, and the caliber of athletes has exponentially grown, many of our best up-and-coming athletes were being left at home. Two coaches—Steve Schaffer and Phillip Davis—with programs transitioning from DII to DI, approached us about creating a meet for those athletes with NCAA “B” cuts who missed out on an invite for the NCAA Championships.

We launched the meet in 2013 with eight teams. While the event was small, it produced school records, NCAA cuts and a great experience for the athletes. Last year, the NCAA passed legislation providing a season exemption for the meet, meaning—like the NCAA Championships—participating in the CSCAA NIC was exempt from the DI season limit of 144 days of competition and practice.

This year, we’ve had over 40 teams pre-register for the meet, which will be held in Annapolis at the Naval Academy, March 8-10. It promises to be an excellent experience for the athletes—whether it is the culminating event of their college career or a launching pad to the NCAA Championships.

Whether you can get to our NIC meet or make the trip to one of the other college championship events, we hope as many people as possible in our community show up to support college swimming and diving as well as our tremendous athletes and coaches.

NAIA Championships: Feb. 28-March 3, Columbus, Ga.

NJCAA Championships: March 7-10, Fort Pierce, Fla.

CSCAA National Invitational Championship: March 8-10, Annapolis, Md.

NCAA DI Women’s Championships: March 14-17, Columbus, Ohio

NCAA DII Championships: March 14-17, Greensboro, N.C.

NCAA DI Men’s Championships: March 21-24, Minneapolis, Minn.

NCAA DIII Championships: March 21-24, Indianapolis, Ind.

To learn more about the upcoming Championship meets, check out the March issue of Swimming World Magazine, available now!

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[ PHOTO BY PETER H. BICK ]

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FEATURES

016 PRIMED FOR THE SEQUEL
by Dan D’Addona
Stanford’s performance last year in winning the women’s NCAA Division I Championships by nearly 200 points was a blockbuster hit. And this year’s team might even be better!

020 A REPEAT FOUR-PEAT?
by Dan D’Addona
Texas won four NCAA team titles in a row from 1988 through 1991. They’re on the verge of making that happen again in 2018, having already won three straight championships since 2015.

024 CAN’T GET ENOUGH
by Andy Ross and David Rieder
The swimming superpowers of NCAA Division II and III, NAIA and NJCAA will try to pick up where they left off last year and continue their dominance at their respective national championships.

027 INSPIRED
by David Rieder
Townley Haas’ story about his rapid rise to become an American record holder and an Olympic gold medalist is inspiring. What’s more inspiring to Haas, however, is the positive outlook on life shown by his sister, Emily. In 2007, she survived being shot in the head at the Virginia Tech massacre that killed 32 people and wounded 17.

030 COMING INTO HER OWN
by Annie Grevers
In 2017, Mallory Comerford tied freestyle superstar Katie Ledecky at NCAAs and collected five gold medals at the World Championships. Named USA Swimming’s “Breakout Swimmer of the Year,” the 20-year-old University of Louisville junior and team captain is more than ready to see what 2018 will bring.

034 TRAGEDY TO TRIUMPH
by Bruce Wigo
To celebrate women’s history month, Swimming World looks back at one of history’s most awful tragedies—the General Slocum Disaster—and how it influenced the right to swim for women.

COACHING

010 LESSONS WITH THE LEGENDS: RON BALLATORE
by Michael J. Stott

014 SWIMMING TECHNIQUE CONCEPTS: CAN KATIE LEDECKY SWIM FASTER? (Part 2)
by Rod Havriluk
Katie Ledecky absolutely has the potential to swim faster—much faster. She could make three important technique improvements regarding the head, arm coordination and pull phase.

037 COLLEGE SWIMMING: BEING YOUR BEST
by Michael J. Stott
Many college coaches believe that how they train their swimmers between the conference and national championships depends on each individual athlete. But the end result is the same for everyone: making sure their swimmers are able to perform their best.

048 Q&A WITH COACH BILL PILCZUK
by Michael J. Stott

050 HOW THEY TRAIN JOEL AX
by Michael J. Stott

JUNIOR SWIMMER

053 UP & COMERS: EMMA KERN
by Taylor Brien

COLUMNS & SPECIAL SECTIONS

008 A VOICE FOR THE SPORT
013 BEYOND THE YARDS
036 THE OFFICIAL WORD
040 2018 SWIM CAMP DIRECTORY
052 HASTY HIGH POINTERS
054 GUTTER TALK
056 PARTING SHOT

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