USA Water Polo has officially canceled multiple upcoming tournaments as the response to the COVID-19 pandemic ramps up in the United States.
After multiple collegiate conferences canceled the remainder of their spring sports seasons, and the NCAA canceled all remaining winter and spring sports championships, USA Water Polo has officially canceled the inaugural women’s Division III Water Polo National Championship. The four-team championship field was set to feature two teams from the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Collegiate Water Polo Association, a single-sport conference that spans the eastern U.S.
Whitter College, a member of the SCIAC, hosted the men’s tournament in December and a SCIAC team would have hosted in May for the women’s matchups. The inaugural men’s field featured Whittier, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, MIT and Johns Hopkins. All four of those schools, as well as numerous others across both conferences, have either sent students home or strongly encouraged them to leave campus.
The women’s tournament will now debut in May 2021, USA Water Polo said.
Following FINA’s directive that the World Water Polo League will be postponed until the fall, USA Water Polo has canceled the 2020 FINA Men’s and Women’s Intercontinental Tournament. The event, which serves as a qualifier for the FINA World League Super Final, was scheduled to be held at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, IN April 28-May 3.
Finally, USA Water Polo announced the cancellation of the third week of the 2020 National League, which was set for April 4-5 in Thousand Oaks, CA, and the National League Championship/Fisher Cup set for May 16-17 in La Jolla, CA.