{"id":458804,"date":"2021-01-04T09:44:06","date_gmt":"2021-01-04T16:44:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=458804"},"modified":"2021-01-04T09:44:06","modified_gmt":"2021-01-04T16:44:06","slug":"the-week-that-was-coley-stickels-resigns-at-alabama-usa-swimming-cuts-pro-series-to-two-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/the-week-that-was-coley-stickels-resigns-at-alabama-usa-swimming-cuts-pro-series-to-two-sites\/","title":{"rendered":"The Week That Was: Coley Stickels Resigns at Alabama, USA Swimming Cuts Pro Series to Two Sites"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Week That Was sponsored by Suitmate.<\/em><\/p>\n

Alabama’s\u00a0Coley Stickels\u00a0<\/strong>stepped down as head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide and will be replaced by\u00a0Margo Geer<\/strong>, who is training under Stickels to make the Olympic team. USA Swimming also announced that the TYR Pro Swim Series will be held in two different sites instead of three, due to southern California’s COVID restrictions in place.<\/p>\n

Read below the five biggest stories in The Week That Was sponsored by\u00a0Suitmate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Week That Was #1: Coley Stickels Resigns as Alabama Coach<\/h3>\n
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Photo Courtesy: Robert Sutton<\/p><\/div>\n

By Matthew De George<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Alabama swimming head coach\u00a0Coley Stickels<\/strong>\u00a0has resigned his position to focus on preparing athletes for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the school announced Monday.<\/p>\n

Margo Geer<\/strong>\u00a0will replace Stickels after the 2021 Olympic Games, for which the 28-year-old Geer hopes to qualify. Assistant coach\u00a0Ozzie Quevedo<\/strong>\u00a0is the interim coach.<\/p>\n

Stickels joined the Crimson Tide\u00a0in April 2019<\/a>, coaching the squad through the truncated 2019-20 season and this fall. Alabama won 15 medals and broke 23 school records at the 2020 SEC Championship and qualified 24 swimmers for the cancelled 2020 NCAA Championships, garnering a total of 57 All-American honors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was not an easy decision, but I\u2019ve decided it is best to step down as head coach of the Alabama Swimming & Diving program,\u201d Stickels said\u00a0in a university release<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s been an honor to serve in this position at Alabama. After personal reflection, however, I need to reprioritize my time to concentrate on training athletes for national and international competition, including the upcoming Olympics. I wish the team all of the best going forward and know they are in good hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alabama\u2019s women\u2019s team is ranked 11th in the nation\u00a0in the final CSCAA poll of 2020<\/a>\u00a0with the men 14th. Two meets are scheduled for 2021, with Auburn and Georgia Tech on the schedule for January.<\/p>\n

#2: USA Swimming Reduces TYR Pro Swim Series to Two Sites Due to Southern California COVID Restrictions<\/h3>\n
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Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n

By John Lohn<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

USA Swimming has announced that the upcoming TYR\u00a0Pro Series event<\/a>, scheduled for Jan. 14-17, has been reduced from a three-site competition to a two-site meet. While the meet will still take place with fields in San Antonio and Richmond, USA Swimming was forced to cancel the Irvine location due to the extension of the Southern California Regional Stay-at-Home Order in place to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

There will be no replacement site for the Irvine locale, but the San Antonio and Richmond sites will be unaffected. The San Antonio meet will feature an invitation-only field that will allow some of the top names in USA Swimming to open their 2021 seasons against strong competition. Both San Antonio and Richmond will host approximately 100 female and male athletes, respectively. All protocols pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic will be followed.<\/p>\n

The Week That Was #3: Big Ten Conference Finalizes Spring Semester Schedule<\/h3>\n
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Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n

By Andy Ross<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The Big Ten Conference has finalized its swimming and diving dual meet schedule for the 2021 spring semester, in an email obtained by\u00a0Swimming World<\/em>, with each team participating three sets of tri-meets across the three weekends of January 15 & 16, January 22 & 23, and February 5 & 6.<\/p>\n

January 15-16<\/strong><\/p>\n