{"id":461955,"date":"2021-02-11T17:32:17","date_gmt":"2021-02-12T00:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=461955"},"modified":"2021-02-11T17:32:17","modified_gmt":"2021-02-12T00:32:17","slug":"swim-poll-of-the-week-63-disagree-with-ncaa-division-iii-naia-championships-getting-cancelled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/swim-poll-of-the-week-63-disagree-with-ncaa-division-iii-naia-championships-getting-cancelled\/","title":{"rendered":"Swim Poll of the Week: 63% Disagree With NCAA Division III & NAIA Championships Getting Cancelled"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the Swim Poll of the Week for Thursday, February 11, 2021, sponsored by Strechcordz Swim Training Products<\/a>. In our last poll, we wanted to know:\u00a0Do you agree with the NCAA Division III & NAIA Championships getting cancelled this year?<\/b><\/p>\n

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The NCAA Division III winter championships had been canceled for the 2020-21 school year, announced last week on February 3<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Division III Administrative Committee, acting on behalf of the Division III Management and Presidents Council, approved the recommendation from the Division III Championships Committee to cancel all winter championships, citing low participation nationwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, we made the difficult decision to cancel our Division III winter championships. While some institutions have been able to safely return to sport, the recent declaration form data show that more than half of our division has not returned to winter sport practice and competition to be in a position for NCAA national championship participation,\u201d said\u00a0Fayneese Mille<\/strong>r, chair of the Presidents Council and president at Hamline, in a statement. \u201cThis was a very difficult decision to make, and we are saddened to do so. However, none of our winter sports meet the Championships Committee\u2019s established thresholds of participation to hold a championship. We are committed to ensuring that our student-athletes have the best possible experience, and, for us, this means having a meaningful number of competitions. We hope this is possible for our spring championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) also announced on Wednesday that the 2021 NAIA Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s Swimming and Diving National Championships have been canceled. The decision came after the Columbus Aquatic Center in Columbus, Georgia determined it would be unable to fulfill its hosting obligation due to COVID-19 concerns.<\/p>\n

A policy approved unanimously by the NAIA\u2019s Council of Presidents in December states that a championship will be canceled if the host site withdraws within 90 days of a championship. Both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s swim and dive championships were scheduled for early March. Today\u2019s announcement is the first cancellation that was made in accordance with this guideline.<\/p>\n

\u201cHigh-quality, student-focused championships are at the core of the NAIA experience and cancelling is done only after all other viable options have been exhausted,\u201d said NAIA President and CEO\u00a0Jim Carr<\/strong>. \u201cIn this case, we are simply out of time and possibilities with too much at stake related to the health and safety of our student-athletes, staff, and fans to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Swimming and Diving National Championships were originally scheduled in Knoxville, Tennessee, but had to be relocated due to COVID-19 restrictions.<\/p>\n