…USA Swimming has revealed the medals that will be handed out at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in Omaha this summer on their facebook page. The medals are once again square, just as they were in 2008, that continues a trend in major swimming away from the circular medals. The medals at December’s European Championships were square as well, and last year’s Pan Am medals were sort of a rectangle cocked at an angle. The big global championships (Olympics, World Championships) have stayed more traditional however with circular (or at least round) medals…
…Another Division 1 Head Coaching job has opened up, as the CSCAA began advertising today the head coaching position at the University of Nevada (not to be confused with UNLV). The women’s-only Wolfpack program had been led by Mike Richmond for the previous 5 seasons, plus eight more as an assistant. Before coming to Nevada (and incidentally finishing his degree), Richmond gained fame as the long-time coach of the Lubbock Swim Team in west Texas. He led Nevada to two WAC Conference titles as a head coach, including 2008 when he was selected the conference’s Coach of the Year despite being only the interim head coach at the time. Nevada has not publicly acknowledged his departure yet, and he is still listed as the head coach on the website, but a Nevada spokesperson confirmed that the job is vacant, and that Richmond “resigned to persue other career opportunities” at the end of his contract. Nevada had success under his tenure, so the most obvious answer is that he’s lined up to move up the coaching ladder…
…According to local news station MyFox8.com, Greensboro is bidding for the 2016 Olympic Trials meet. It’s not clear if Omaha will bid for a third-straight event (the first one was nothing short of spectacular), but there will be a lot of clamoring for a fresh environment by 2016. A Greensboro committee will head to Colorado Springs on May 15th to state their case, though the typical timetable won’t have a decision made publicly until some time in the summer of 2013. The new Greensboro Aquatic Center hosted last week’s Masters Nationals as it’s big coming-out party, and has several more meets left. The beauty of the Greensboro site is that the GAC sits on the same complex as a big basketball arena – the Greensboro Coliseum. The pool might be a bit too far of a walk to fill-in as a true warmup pool, but there’s also an auditorium adjacent to the basketball arena. The setup is actually quite similar to Omaha – a medium-sized town with a big university population, a 23,000 seat arena used for college basketball and hockey, and a local infrastructure capable of absorbing huge influxes of visitors. Though not as centrally-located as Omaha, it seems like a viable option…
Hotel availibility will not be an issue: OTs are a big event, sure, but I don’t think those 23K seats will be full (not to besmirch OTs, but the Coliseum is the biggest arena in the country). I’m from there and will freely admit that the area around the Coliseum itself is not ideal in terms of food and lodging, but it’s a pretty easy city to drive around so getting from the meet to a good hotel or restaurant won’t be a problem. I think the bid will win and the trials will be spectacular.
Greensboro is a lovely town and I am sure the venue is very nice….They handle the overflow of Furniture Market Buyers to Highpoint and the surrounding area each year and do it in style…Attended the last Olympic Trials in Nebraska and it was phenomenal.They really did a wonderful job…But the hotels were all booked and we had a hard time finding rooms there.Waits at all the nearby restaurants…not sure Greensboro would have as many hotel rooms to book close to the venue..Could pose a problem….Orlando Florida would be a great option with the new Arena and so many hotels and restaurants close by….
And a few topless car washes in the town. Seemed to be the most visited establishment during our USMS trip