Original report was published on January 31st.
Ohio State’s Cameron Craig missed his third consecutive meet Friday evening when the Buckeyes visited Pittsburgh.
The junior last competed on January 4 when OSU battled Kentucky, and has now been absent for their dual with Michigan on January 18 and last weekend’s Shamrock Invitational at Notre Dame in addition to the dual at Pitt.
Update February 1st, 2020
OSU has issued the following statement regarding Craig’s recent absences:
“Cameron is working through some personal matters at this time and that is his focus right now. He has taken a leave of absence from swimming and he remains a valued member of our program. We love him and will continue to support him and we ask that you respect he and his family’s privacy at this time.”
Update #2 February 2nd, 2020
Craig was cited on January 16th, 2020 for 4 traffic offenses, including driving under the influence of alcohol. Franklin County Court Records list a charge under 45.11.19(A)(1)(A) & (D) of the Ohio Revised Code, which reads:
No person shall operate any vehicle, streetcar, or trackless trolley within this state, if, at the time of the operation, any of the following apply:
(a) The person is under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse, or a combination of them.
(d) The person has a concentration of eight-hundredths of one gram or more but less than seventeen-hundredths of one gram by weight of alcohol per two hundred ten liters of the person’s breath.
The legal limit to operate a motor vehicle in Ohio is .08. The record also includes citations of speeding (75 miles per hour in a 65 zone) and failure to drive in marked lanes. He was arraigned on January 22nd, where he was given an additional $100 fine for distracted driving.
Craig previously competed for Arizona State, completing his freshman and sophomore campaigns there in 2016-17 and 2017-18. As a Sun Devil, the Michigan native was the 2017 Pac-12 champion in the men’s 100 free and won back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018 in the 200 free.
He then took last season off before announcing he was joining the Buckeyes this past August.
This season the 21-year-old ranks 28th in the nation in both the 100 free (43.03) and 100 fly (46.57), and has also been 19.89 in the 50 free. In his last appearance versus Kentucky, Craig won both the 50 free (20.07) and 100 fly (48.39).
The Swimulator currently projects Ohio State to finish 4th at this year’s Big Ten Championship meet based on season-best times, behind Michigan, Indiana, and Iowa. Those projections exclude diving.
When is anyone going to report that he also got arrested on 02/05/2020? Can’t wait for the update on that one
It was reported to the people that it needed to be. This does NOT include you. His struggles are none of anyone’s business except his own and his support system.
And the people who have to share the road with him and could have died that night*. You forgot about those people.
lmao its public record (:
its public record. So that was invalid.
Hope he doesn’t kill someone. No empathy for someone who drives drunk.
I have full sympathy for people who need to overcome struggles or just grow up. But drunk driving is beyond stupid, especially in the age of Uber.
As a relative newcomer to the sport of swimming (I was not a swimmer myself but my children are/were college swimmers), I would tell every friend that I could about what a tight, supportive, close-knit family the swimming community was. However, after reading some of these comments, I stand corrected. This community can be just as jaded and cynical as any other. This young man is clearly struggling and I am amazed at the absolute joy some are feeling about this. You don’t have to root for him, but do you have to root against him? I’m sure that every person who has commented has lived a life without regret or mistake, but not all of us are so lucky.… Read more »
It’s just discussion. Whenever a top swimmer which I’m sorry Craig definitely is one of the top swimmers in recent years at the college level and when he made a come back a lot of people were really excited about what he was going to do. This is definitely huge news and not good news obviously. When he was at junior Pan Pacs four years ago, he was sensational and looked like one of the next brightest stars for USA swimming. If he doesn’t show up to a few meets in a row, there are a lot of people who would be interested in knowing why. To find out it was caused by a DUI and or poor grades is… Read more »
horns down
Yeah unfortunately once you are 18 and get a dui that news gets out there whether you like it or not. SwimSwam is just reporting the news, his mugshot is probably on the internet somewhere anyways. Everyone around him probably knows about it so it’s embarrassing either way. It’s up to him how he chooses to own up to his mistakes and I truly hope that he has good people around him to support him in making better decisions.
Like it or not, this stuff is interesting and gets people reading. Especially for the comments.
We’ve all done dumb stuff, we’ve all had choices that were poor. Hopefully this kid makes the choice to get his act together.
Who?
This is heartbreaking. Hoping he can find peace and wellness. It is sad to see one of our community struggling.
Agree. Remember that this site is “our” community. Also, even though notable swimmers are well known (to us) and accomplished in sport, they are still young kids. Kids make mistakes, and many are sensitive and perhaps vulnerable to online Swimswam trolling. Just saying. We can hope CC gets it all together soon.
Yes some kids are sensitive to it that’s why I would definitely recommend If swimmers are at the level where they could be written about or talked about on this site they probably shouldn’t be reading it at all because even though there are positive comments and positive things written, inevitably there will be negative things written so they shouldn’t be in the habit of looking at it. instead they should be focused on their classes, friends and their sport.
Dear swimswam
This was really important information we really wanted to know. Please continue to publicize everything you can confirm, even if it is damaging to a young athlete and their school. The value of disseminating this info clearly supercedes the due process, so please continue to tell us about swimmers whose lives took a turn for the worse before they can appeal the charges. It creates a great atmosphere and is helpful. Appreciate all you are doing for these kids
– John
College athletes: “pay us”
Also college athletes: “we want no accountability, just money”
Can’t have it both ways.
Fair, but this isn’t an NBA prospect here, and this isn’t TMZ. Swimming and swimswam both are working on a much smaller scale money wise, so it’s not like there are stars in their eyes from all the money getting thrown around. I think it would be more reasonable to just let the kid work it out. All I’m trying to say
The young man is 21 years old, time to grow up, reflect and refocus. No need to wrap him around bubbles.
I highly doubt his lack of academic drive only started in OSU. It should have been addressed in high school years.
Bitter pills sometimes are needed.
It’s a repercussion of his bad choice. Part of the lesson for Cameron.
@toastedoats
Quite a hot take there. I couldn’t disagree more
There’s literally 1000’s of student athletes out there not just working their asses of at their sports, plus doing everything to succeed academically and contribute to their universities . Just b/c one high profile kid hasn’t been able to manage all of it doesn’t mean college athletes want all the perks and zero responsibility. That’s insulting to all of them who stay out of the headlines
Meanwhile pro athletes in Ohio get white glove treatment from police officers. Kareem hunt anyone? Lay off the guy for now – hopefully it was a one time mistake.
Something makes me think that the average cop might treat Cameron Craig and Kareem hunt just a little differently
If you don’t like what SwimSwam is doing, don’t be sarcastic like this
Also reporting a charge is not superseding due process…
He’s an adult. If you get arrested for a DUI it’s on the record. There is nothing swimswam reported here that you could not attain yourself. It is obvious that Craig is going through a tough time but he is still accountable for his actions.
This is a news website. If a college football player who is high profile were to get a DUI it would certainly be in the news. Craig is a D1 college athlete. It does come with a price and certainly responsibility. Swimswam did nothing wrong in their reporting.