USA Swimming has created a geographic exemption for its four-site 18&Under Spring Cup meet due to California’s ban on out-of-state youth sports teams.
The 18&Under Spring Cup is a USA Swimming event with four distinct sites. (That means each site will have its own individual results, rather than all sites being combined into one final results listing). Richmond, Virginia is set to host clubs in the northeast; Orlando, Florida clubs in the southeast; Des Moines, Iowa clubs in the midwest; and Irvine, California clubs on the West Coast.
But California’s current state coronavirus restrictions don’t allow out-of-state youth sports teams to compete within the state. That would bar western clubs (including LSCs in the Pacific Northwest, Nevada, and Arizona) from competing in the meet.
USA Swimming announced in a press release this week that affected teams will “have the opportunity to attend any of the other three sites” for the meet in the only allowed geographic exemption to the regional rules.
You can see USA Swimming’s 18&Under Spring Cup meet information (and the regional breakdowns) here.
All four meets will take place from April 29 through May 2. The meets are envisioned as an “additional opportunity for in-person competition for young swimmers to earn qualifying cuts for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials,” per USA Swimming’s release.