USA Swimming has officially canceled its major summer meets (Summer Championships, Sectionals, Futures), but plans to run more regional meets in mid-summer and kick-start national competition again in late 2020.
Summer season would typically culminate in a set of summer meets at various levels. Sectional meets for more regional competition, Futures Championships for age-group swimmers just outside of junior national level, and the U.S. Summer Championships, a rebranded combination of U.S. Open and Junior Nationals from previous seasons. With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic wiping out competition this spring and summer, USA Swimming has officially canceled those events.
But the organization says it will fill the gap with 14-16 ‘regional events’ in mid-to-late August, provided clubs and athletes are able to safely return to training and competition.
USA Swimming has also set the framework for major events in the winter season. The 2021 Pro Swim Series will tentatively begin in the fall of 2020, with five stops spread between then and May of 2021.
The tentative schedule also includes a Winter U.S. Open meet, and Winter Junior Championships, once again split between East and West meets. As it was last year, the U.S. Open meet would be in long course meters, and the Winter Junior meets would be short course yards.
Here’s a look at the lineup and dates for the late 2020 meets. The summer 2020 regional-level meets are not yet included:
- Nov 5-8, 2020: Pro Swim Series at Richmond (Richmond, VA)
- Dec. 2-5, 2020: U.S. Open (Atlanta, GA)
- Dec. 9-12, 2020: Winter Juniors East (Atlanta, GA) & West (Austin, TX)
- Jan. 13-16, 2021: Pro Swim Series at Knoxville (Knoxville, TN)
- March 3-6, 2021: Pro Swim Series at San Antonio (San Antonio, TX)
- April 8-11, 2021: Pro Swim Series at Mission Viejo (Mission Viejo, CA)
- May 12-15, 2021: Pro Swim Series at Indianapolis (Indianapolis, IN)
- June 13-20, 2021: U.S. Olympic Trials (Omaha, NE)
The full USA Swimming announcement is below:
Dear USA Swimming members,
As we continue to monitor the changes of this global pandemic, assess the lifting of restrictions across the country and prioritize the health and safety of our members, we are also optimistically planning for our return to competition.
Given the varying timelines expected for a return to training, we have made the decision to modify our upcoming events schedule. National events in July and early August, which include USA Swimming Sectionals, Futures and the Speedo Summer Championships, will be canceled in order to refocus our efforts on introducing a new series of summer events better tailored to the current environment.
The introduction of 14-16 regional events in mid to late August would allow for a successful return to pools and training and help kickoff the competition season.
These regionally focused events will limit the need for travel and promote a safer competition environment for our athletes, families and everyone involved. The approval of these event sanctions will be subject to local health guidelines and directives. We look forward to providing further details in the coming weeks.
Following the end-of-summer events, we are pleased to announce our tentative 2020-2021 national schedule of events in preparation for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Omaha in 2021:
Nov. 5-8, 2020
TYR Pro Swim Series at Richmond | Richmond, Va.
Dec. 2-5, 2020
Toyota U.S. Open | Atlanta, Ga.
Dec. 9-12, 2020
Speedo Juniors East | Atlanta, Ga.
Dec. 9-12, 2020
Speedo Juniors West | Austin, Texas
January 13-16,2021
TYR Pro Swim Series at Knoxville | Knoxville, Tenn.
March 3-6, 2021
TYR Pro Swim Series at San Antonio | San Antonio, Texas
April 8-11, 2021
TYR Pro Swim Series at Mission Viejo | Mission Viejo, Calif.
May 12-15, 2021
TYR Pro Swim Series at Indianapolis | Indianapolis, Ind.
June 13-20, 2021
U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming | Omaha, Neb.
Qualifying periods for the national events will be announced later this summer.
There is still much work to do, but we encourage you to remain hopeful. There will be bumps along the road, but rest assured that we will respond swiftly and in the safest and most responsible way.
Someday soon you will all strap on your goggles and walk on the pool deck again, and we absolutely cannot wait.
Wishing you continued good health,
Tim Hinchey III
USA Swimming President & CEO
https://youtu.be/R3M8Vc8Lffo
Any idea when summer sectionals will happen for 2021? We are in the Midwest-Missouri? Thanks!
I don’t know about Colorado, but Newsom is starting school again in July. This means that probably high school swimming will have CIF or state meet by end of August or early September before boys water polo get underway. Some good news,
Seems like just yesterday we were whining about canceling NCAAs.
Bad move. Swim outdoors as much as possible. You may have to cancel the indoor winter meets if covid returns, which it probably will
” which it probably will ” u must have a crystal ball or listening too many Mass Media stuff ….
Listening to epidemiologists
Ain’t no way no vaccine will be ready by then, so you bet it will “return.”
Wishful thinking that anything outside of time trials, inter club and virtual meets will be happening before 2021 imo.
Would honestly rather just train and then have an intrasquad meet or something at the end of the year. Most teams like mine don’t have long course pool so the meets could be short course. I personally don’t want to be wasting my time, and risking my health swimming long course at a “regional meet” this summer (Unless there are short course time trials or if some of the regional meets are short course). Colleges care much more about your short course times and as a sophomore in high school who didn’t get an opportunity to swim at the end of the season, I feel like swimming long course would be a total waste of time. Not everyone is an… Read more »
Exactly
14-16 regional meets in the summer seems like wishful thinking IMHO. USA Swimming should focus on virtual meets and other creative meet formats that will allow athletes to maintain social distancing. Not sure that 300+ athletes on a pool deck will be a good idea in August…not to mention the coaches/officials/spectators who may have weaker immune systems.
Mid to late August for regional meets is terrible timing for anyone in college. That’s exactly when students are returning to campus and starting classes. Most semester programs start class on Aug 24.
in the wishful thinking world where college classes resume
It will be interesting to see how many colleges allow meets to be hosted on their campus in August. While it seems unlikely, it would certainly be a great sign for the upcoming season.