Texas men’s swimming and diving is among the teams “working on” putting together an end-of-season intrasquad meet in the wake of Thursday’s news that all remaining NCAA championship events, assistant coach Wyatt Collins wrote in a comment on SwimSwam.
In a press conference Tuesday, Texas head coach Eddie Reese already said that if the NCAA Championship meet was canceled, he might have to “invent” something in the Longhorns’ home pool to give his team a chance to see the payoff of their taper – he said he believes that’s an important thing for swimmers to have an opportunity for that every season.
That possibility raises an intriguing solution to the unprecedented end to the collegiate season. It obviously would be nice for swimmers, especially seniors, to get another shot at racing short course while tapered. But if enough teams follow suit, it could lead “virtual” championships in which the results from the intrasquad events are compiled to form one “championship.”
A number of schools are sending student-athletes home for the year, which could have a massive impact on their swimming careers. Unlike the ACC Conference – which has officially suspended all practices – the NCAA did not place limits on practicing, but training cycles will inevitably be disrupted soon at most schools. That likely means performance at last-chance Olympic Trials qualifying meets will be hindered.
Intrasquad meets, although they won’t mimic the atmosphere of the NCAA Championships, would give swimming’s highly deserving student-athletes a shot to salvage this wild ending to the season. And for seniors who won’t be continuing past college, they would provide some semblance of closure.
If Cal and Texas hold intrasquads and have their pros swim too To boost the numbers, they’ll be pretty damn competitive.
For other teams, not sure they could do it. Possibly Florida, but I suspect they were peaked for SECs anyway so will be less bothered.
That Eddie Reese invitational is looking 🔥🔥 right now
It’ll be the Eddie Reese Championship this year.
My understanding is most college swimmers were told today that no organized collegiate practices will be held. (This is what my son was told after being told of NCAA DIV 1 championship cancellation.) His school and conference have indicated that coaches can’t be present if they swim, if they can find a pool that is open. It sucks because they have worked so hard. I guess, if most schools/conferences are taking this approach, very few will be able to have any type of meet to really see what times they could get with a full taper.
Working swim mom- what conference is your son?
B1G
ACC athletes screwed. Could they enter a college invitational under their home USA Clubs?
Just got kicked out of practice because the university we train out shut down. Can’t train for 2 weeks. Idk if many teams are going to do intrasquds, besides cal and Texas.
Thats what your bath tub is for.
I’m adding the T now
did you check to see if the back door to the pool was accidentally left unlocked and there was a bunch of gibberish in numbers and letters/abbreviations written on a whiteboard next to the pool
Will LSCs and USA Swim sanction such meets if they are encouraging no meets for 30days? They hold all the cards when it comes to sanctions.
Technically it sounds like a practice to me. No sanction needed, though any “records” would be completely unofficial.
For those teams in the ACC intrasquad is not an option. They can not hold a team practice or time trial, let alone an intrasquad meet
How does the ban work if they swim for their “club” team like Cavalier Aquatics?
It’s probably facility closure not just the teams
I hope every team follows Texas’s lead! It’s not NCAA, but maybe the competition of virtually racing someone will bring a sense of satisfaction in spite of the real thing!