COVID-19 forces major changes to high school swimming and wrestling state championships
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s Board of Control on Wednesday made a number of adjustments to its swimming, wrestling and bowling postseasons because of capacity restrictions that venues must follow due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The biggest change comes to the state swim meet where capacity limitations make it both impossible to have a huge event and even further make it impossible for almost any swim meet — regular season, regional or state — to have any spectators at all.
“Despite everybody’s efforts, including all our facilities all through the state, there’s not an opportunity to try to create swimming like it normally is,” KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett told the board during its work session Wednesday. It’s a problem not unique to Kentucky, Tackett said. “We have several states that have actually canceled their swimming. And the majority of states are doing some kind of modification for one year.”
The board accepted the KHSAA’s staff recommendation to split the state championships into three semi-state meets for 2021 where the timed results at each venue would be used to order the overall medalists. Trophies would need to be distributed after the events.
Even at a facility as large as the University of Kentucky’s Lancaster Aquatic Center, the usual home of the state championships, capacity is limited to 225 people. And that restriction would have to include competitors, coaches, officials and staff, said associate commissioner Butch Cope, who presented the swimming report.
By holding three semi-state meets following the regionals, instead of one big state meet, the KHSAA can maintain the normal level of finals competitors (300-325 swimmers), Cope said. Swimming is broken into nine regions, meaning each semi-state site would host three regions.
With parents and other spectators not allowed at the events, the KHSAA plans to look at pay-per-view streaming through the NFHS Network to enable viewing of the competitions.
The state diving competition, normally held in conjunction with the swim meet, will be held as a separate event.
Sites for state and regional events have not been announced.
Wrestling
The state wrestling championships, normally held over two days at a central location will also change, according to a plan laid out Wednesday.
Wrestling adjustments also require a new semi-state round, but unlike swimming, the KHSAA says it can conduct a singular final state meet featuring the state’s top competitors.
The plan approved by the board calls for regionals to be moved up to the week of March 8, a week early, to allow for a new semi-state round the week of March 15 as a COVID-19 season only measure.
Four individual semi-state sites would host two wrestling regions each. Seeding for those events, normally conducted in lengthy meetings among coaches, would instead be ordered according to the sport’s TrackWrestling data, Tackett said.
The top two competitors in each weight class at each semi-state event would advance to a final state meet to be held the week of March 22.
All results from the semi-state meets and the state meet would count toward the team standings.
The breaking of the state wrestling into semi-state and state finals rounds wlll allow the venues to accommodate spectators and traditional awards can be given, the KHSAA said.
Sites for the wrestling events have not been announced.
Bowling
The KHSAA will limit postseason rosters to eight bowlers instead of 12 and limit spectators at the competitions to comply with state COVID-19 rules.
The state championships will be held over three days instead of two. The girls’ competition (individual and team) and boys’ competition (individual and team) will be held on separate days with the unified and adaptive competition held on the third day. Under normal circumstances, the boys’ and girls’ singles events are held in conjunction with each other.
The contests are scheduled to be held March 22 to 24 in Louisville.
Sweet 16 ticket news
Tackett told the board that this year’s tickets for the boys’ and girls’ Sweet 16 basketball tournaments will be booked individually by game rather than sessions. In previous years, individual tickets admitted fans to a multi-game session at Rupp Arena. COVID-19 protocols prevent that.
Tackett also noted that electronic ticketing means ticket holders can conveniently share their tickets among different people using their phone, instead of having to print and distribute tickets. Paper tickets are no longer used by Rupp Arena, Tackett said.
And Tackett reported the results of a survey of its usual advance ticket buyers for the Sweet 16s. About 60 percent of those surveyed remain interested in buying again this year, but want fewer tickets, Tackett said. For the girls’ event, 50 percent of those surveyed said they wished to order this year.
New officer
The board elected board member and Campbellsville Independent Schools Superintendent Kirby Smith as its president-elect for 2021-22.
