Weather and COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on the NCAA swimming and diving schedule with at least five more meets being canceled.
Winter Storm Jasper is expected to bring snow to a lot of the southern and mid-Atlantic parts of the country at the end of the week and into the weekend. The storm also brings the potential for ice which could cause people to lose power and have tree damage. Much of the Carolinas has the highest chance to have the worst effects of the storm including ice.
In addition to weather canceling meets, COVID-19 cases are still high across the country as the omicron variant continues to show its dominance.
Some parts of the country, such as the northeast, are seeing a slight decline in cases compared to previous weeks whereas other parts of the country, such as the west, are seeing an increase in cases. Cases are currently 253 per 100,000 people in the west compared to 192 per 100,000 people in the northeast. In addition to COVID-19, winter weather is making an impact on college swimming meets as well.
Georgia Tech and Queens
The meet between Division I Georgia Tech University and Division II powerhouse Queens University scheduled for Friday, January 21st has been canceled due to “Queens University’s weather and travel concerns.” The meet was supposed to take place at Georgia Tech.
Queens is located in Charlotte, North Carolina. Charlotte has the potential for snow on Friday. Georgia Tech has announced that they plan on hosting an intrasquad meet instead.
This is Queens’ first cancellation of the season. Georgia Tech had their meet scheduled for January 8th at Auburn canceled due to COVID-19.
ECU and Georgia Southern
The ECU and Georgia Southern meet scheduled for Saturday, January 22nd at ECU has been canceled “due to forecast of winter weather and expected hazardous travel conditions.” The meet was supposed to be senior day for ECU, and the meet will not be rescheduled.
Greenville, North Carolina, where ECU is located has a winter storm warning in effect from Friday 12:00 am EST until Saturday 7:00 am EST.
This is ECU’s first meet cancellation of the season. Georgia Southern had their meet scheduled for January, 15th against Campbell and SCAD canceled due to COVID-19.
Utah and Washington State
The Utah and Washington State women’s only meet scheduled for Friday, January 21st has been canceled “due to COVID health and safety protocols within the Washington State program.” The meet was to be held at Utah and will not be rescheduled.
Utah had their meets scheduled for last weekend against Arizona and Arizona State canceled due to COVID-19 within their own program. Washington State also had their meet scheduled for last weekend, the PNW Invite, due to COVID-19 within their own program.
BYU and Washington State
In addition to their meet against Utah being canceled, Washington State also has had their meet against BYU canceled. The meet was scheduled for Saturday, January 22nd but has been canceled “due to COVID-19 protocols within the WSU program”
This is BYU’s first cancellation of the year.
Seattle and Pacific Lutheran
The Division I Seattle University and Division III Pacific Lutheran University meet scheduled for Saturday, January 22nd has been canceled. No specific announcement has been made to give the reasoning.
Seattle withdrew from their meet scheduled for January, 15th at Idaho “due to COVID-19 protocols”. Pacific Lutheran had their meet scheduled for January 15th against Willamette postponed but are still scheduled to compete against George Fox University on Friday, January 21st.