The National YMCA Swimming and Diving announced that it will host a 2021 YMCA National Swimming Festival in the spring in lieu of its normal slate of events.
The event, details of which have yet to be ironed out and publicized, will take place before April 15, 2021. Overseen by a “collective of coaches and volunteers,” the festival will allow swimmers to compete locally or regionally, in accordance with health regulations surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. The results will then be compiled and compared to determine national rankings and awards.
COVID-19 has effectively wiped out two years of YMCA competition, with the cancellation of 2020 short-course national championships made early in the shutdown that started in the spring. In November, the YMCA announced it wouldn’t host national championships for 2021, either. YMCA clubs in various areas have announced facility closures and program rollbacks as financial pressures have mounted.
The 2021 YMCA National Swimming Festival hopes to provide an alternative, to the dearth of competition at least. By hosting individual meets or time trials and comparing the times digitally, Y Nationals can continue in some form. It’s part of a larger push surrounding virtual meets in 2020, when travel and congregating in large groups as on a pool deck remains unsafe due to escalating coronavirus infections in many locations.
Are cut times the same for y nationals as y festival
I think they changed the cuts and made them a little slower