SEC Championships To Run Relays In Alternate Lanes For Second Straight Year

2022 SEC SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

  • Tuesday, February 15- Saturday, February 19, 2022
  • Jones Aquatics Center, Knoxville, Tenn. (Eastern Time Zone)
  • Defending Champion: Men- Florida (9x), Women- Kentucky (1x)
  • Live Results
  • Live Video
  • Championship Central
  • Psych Sheets

The SEC Championships will have its relays contested in alternate lanes for the second straight year.

During the 2021 championship season, relays at the conference and NCAA Championships were raced in an alternate-lane format in an effort to mitigate the number of swimmers crowded behind the blocks amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the NCAA has extended its waiver to allow the alternate-lane format, it’s also something coaches might prefer because it offers each team more clean water during the race.

On the flip side of things, having only four teams compete per heat makes it much more likely we see podium finishes from multiple heats, which can rob us off some exciting head-to-head battles.

The 2021 NCAAs also featured timed final relays for the first time due to the pandemic, which has been adopted again for 2022. SECs have always had timed final relays.

The 2022 SEC Championships kick off on Tuesday, Feb. 15, with the five-day competition running through Saturday (Feb. 19).

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MCH
2 years ago

Back to the early 1980’s

kazoo
2 years ago

Seems ridiculous. You’ve got a huge crowd of people packed into a facility but you’re worried about swimmers being too close in their lanes?

MeSoShammy
2 years ago

Such precautions, much necessary, best thing not worth sick

VFL
2 years ago

Dumb. Close contact is unavoidable at this meet. Making this change only robs us of good races.

Admin
Reply to  VFL
2 years ago

My conspiracy theory is that this has more to do with clean water than COVID.

Coach
Reply to  Braden Keith
2 years ago

100%

Swimm
2 years ago

This is a joke

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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