LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) has announced that Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium will remain the site of the PIAA Boys’ and Girls’ Swimming and Diving Championships through 2020.
Located within the Kenneth Langone Athletics and Recreation Center, Kinney Natatorium opened in October of 2002 and has served as the home of Pennsylvania’s high school swimming and diving championship meet every year since 2005. The four-day event brings nearly 1,000 of the top swimmers and divers from all over the state every March. Sellout crowds regularly attend the meet, and it is televised on the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN). The 2017 PIAA Championship is slated for March 15-18.
“I am very pleased that Bucknell Athletics will be continuing its partnership with the PIAA to keep the swimming and diving championships at Kinney Natatorium,” said Bucknell director of athletics and recreation John Hardt. “This is a major event that attracts thousands of visitors to Bucknell and to Central Pennsylvania every year. It is a wonderful opportunity for us to partner with the Susquehanna River Valley Visitor’s Bureau to showcase our beautiful campus and the surrounding communities. Kinney Natatorium has been a magnificent venue for these young student-athletes to compete for a prestigious state championship.”
Throughout the school year, Kinney Natatorium is the home facility for Bucknell men’s and women’s swimming and diving and men’s and women’s water polo programs. The multi-purpose venue features a 50-meter by 25-yard Olympic class pool and also enhances the recreational aquatics opportunities for the Bucknell community. The pool itself features two moveable bulkheads, allowing for multiple activities to occur simultaneously.
The facility has played host to several major events, most notably the 2005 NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship. Every other year the Patriot League Swimming and Diving Championships are contested in Kinney, and it has also played host to a number of Eastern water polo championships and an exhibition game against the U.S. women’s water polo national team.
Swimming news courtesy of Bucknell Swimming & Diving.
Great site, I would like it if they could start from the diving board side so we don’t have to swim bulkhead to bulkhead. Also I wish that they would figure out a way to alert the b finalists when they need to be ready rather than just sending them to the blocks after award pictures.