As the COVID-19 global pandemic continues to change the course of 2020, many events important to those of us in the swimming community are being rescheduled or cancelled. Perhaps no cancellation has been more devastating for the swimming community of the United States than that of the NCAA Championships for Division I, II, and III. While it’s tragic that the 2020 NCAA season ended this way, the season we did have was filled with amazing individual and team performances.
Several American Records were broken at conference meets and countless school records and personal bests were reset. Many of these performances came from swimmers who were saving their full shave and taper for NCAAs, a thought that is simultaneously heartbreaking and exciting as it goes to show just how much more those athletes may yet be capable of. More importantly, teams came together at their conference meets and celebrated their successes.
Athletes/Coaches in Order of Appearance:
- Coleman Stewart, NC State
- Nyls Korstanje, NC State
- Braden Holloway, NC State
- Zach Yeadon, Notre Dame
- Blake Manoff, Virginia Tech
- Nick Albiero, Louisville
- Mitchell Whyte, Louisville
- Jack Brown, North Carolina
- Blaise Vera, Pittsburgh
- John Hargis, Pittsburgh
- Ted Schubert, Virginia
- Todd DeSorbo, Virginia
- Neal Studd, Florida State
SwimSwam was fortunate to have a physical presence at the Women’s and Men’s ACC Championships in Greensboro, NC, in February. The Greensboro Aquatic Center is one of the greatest venues for high-level swimming in the United States, and the energy that both athletes and family and friends bring to the ACC Championships is thrilling to behold.
The ACC Championships was always going to be the final meet of the season for some swimmers, but for those that had qualified for NCAAs or were on the cusp of qualifying, the abrupt cancellation of the meet is a devastating blow. It’s difficult not to think of what could have been at NCAAs, yet like a bad race at a meet, we as a community must keep our focus on what comes next and what we need to do now to prepare for it.
In this video, we see that swimmers and coaches are happy with what they have accomplished, yet they know there are better things yet to come. Though easier said than done, this is the mindset that will get us through this tough time and onward to even faster championship seasons.
