Sprint News 6/23/12: Brits Camp in Scotland; Divers Shift 2013 NCAA Title Race

…British Swimming has announced that they will hold their pre-Olympic training camp in Edinburgh, Scotland. They sought out many locations, both in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe, but settled on the Scottish capital of half-a-million. They will prepare in the Royal Comonwealth Pool, that was first completed for the 1970 Commonwealth Games but that just reopened after a £37.1 million ($57.83 million) renovation ahead of Edinburgh’s hosting of the same event in 2014. For reference, the renovation cost roughly 10-times as much to renovate as it cost to build it in the 1960’s. The facility has one 50 meter pool and 2 25-meter courses including a newly-opened 25-meter well. Edinburgh’s low-key atmosphere was a major factor in the decision, according to National Performance Director Michael Scott: “City of Edinburgh Council is providing the team with fantastic access to a world-class aquatics facility and the historic city lends itself to a relaxed, low-key training camp at a very high-pressure time. We’re confident this camp will be conducive to finalising preparations and ensuring the nation’s athletes are at their very peak as they prepare to represent Team GB at the home Olympics”…

…During today’s Olympic diving trials, NBC hinted at two moves that will result in sizable shifts in the college swimming and diving scene. The first was that Harrison Jones, a former USC Trojan, was trying to transfer to Cal next season. USC parted ways with Jones after a positive test for marijuana a year ago earned him a 6-month FINA suspension, but he was a 28-point scorer at NCAA’s in 2011. Sources close to the Cal program confirmed that there were discussions on the matter, but weren’t positive if the arrangements had been finalized. Diving is one of the few weak spots of the two-time defending NCAA Champions, but last year (even having to train on Stanford’s platform) the Cal women put a female Kahley Rowell into the top-5 at NCAA’s. The Golden Bears will become even harder to beat if they can work things out with Jones. In the meanwhile, he’s been training with Texas A&M’s elite group that is just 45 minutes away from his native Houston. He was 10th in the Trials platform final…

…The other move seems to be less of a forced-hand. Indiana senior-to-be Zac Nees is transferring to finish his final year of eligibility at the University of Miami. He was the Hoosiers’ best diver last year (and ironically also scored 28 points at NCAA’s). This is more of a loss for last year’s 10th-ranked team Indiana than a gain for Miami, which only has a diving program on the men’s side (and no swimmers). He has multiple top-3 finishes in the Big Ten under his belt. He finished 12th (last in the final) at the Olympic Trials…

…The University of Denver, as they transition to the WAC (women) and MPSF (men) next season, has hired a new assistant coach – Tyson Hurst. Hurst comes after two seasons spent as an assistant at UConn, and a year prior as a volunteer assistant at Stanford. He has risen fairly quickly to this level having been only a high school assistant and club coach as recently as 2009. His most successful swimmer at UConn was Chinyere Pigot, who crushed UConn school records in both the 50 and 100 freestyle as a freshman and will represent Suriname at the Olympics. That will give him a brilliant experience of being on-deck as a Suriname National Team coach at the Olympics. That’s an impressive experience three-years out of an assistant HS coach…