Western Mass swimmers change tide on MIAA’s State Meet

For those not following along on Twitter, I suggest that you open an account as soon as possible – because change is on the horizon.

Western Massachusetts swimmers, including those in Berkshire County, took to their Facebook pages and Twitter accounts to display their displeasure over the recent MIAA ruling to cancel their Western Mass sectionals meet due to the recent storm.

The MIAA stated, following their initial cancel dates, that pool time and swim facility options was the primary issue. Also the MIAA’s rigid timeframe for admitting state qualifying swim times could not be altered; they were due this past Monday at 4 p.m.

“At first when I heard the meet was cancelled, I was absolutely shocked – I just couldn’t believe that was the option they had gone with,” said Monument Mountain Head Swimming Coach Jill Svirida.

Swimmers were also shocked and took to their social media accounts to create what Mike Roy, athletic director of Minnechaug High School, said was a “firestorm.”

Local swimmers contacted Olympic swimmers such as Ryan Lochte and Missy Franklin and other members of the USA Swim Team to garner support in their cause to bring back a Western Mass meet – which they did.

“It first came about when I had to go and tell my swimmers that the meet was cancelled – to see their looks on their faces – and the work they put in – it hit me as one of the hardest conversations I have ever had,” Roy said.

Roy was instrumental in setting up an unsanctioned Western Mass meet this past week, as the girls raced on Monday in Westfield and the boys raced Tuesday in Chicopee just hours after the initial state time admittance was allowed.

“I believe [the MIAA] should be less rigid with their cut-off dates, but I understand that they have them but I think they should look at in the fairness of the kids,” Roy said.

“The entry for States is always on Monday at 4 p.m.,” Svirida said. “ I know the MIAA does care about the kids – I just don’t think they understand how important this meet is to our area, and the kids made that clear with all their efforts.”

On Monday, the MIAA did reconsider their policy, while the Western Mass meets held earlier this week were not sanctioned and would not affect their State qualification. The MIAA re-released a statement, stating that all qualifiers of sectional meets throughout the state will qualify for the State Swim Meet this weekend, excluding non-qualified relay teams.

The decision allows local swimmers like Monument’s Rowan Rice and Will Palmer to attend this weekend’s meet, in their strongest events.

“With Rowan, we had Western Mass to get those State times, and we weren’t concerned,” Svirida said.

Rice, who had qualifying state times in club swimming, like so many athletes, tapered his training so he peaked at the end of the season without over-exerting too much energy.

“You train hard all year long with little rest – with nine weeks of the season and you have one to two meets per week,” Svirida said. “It’s very hard to get fast times in that situation, so the way the sport of swimming works is you work hard and you anticipate your taper, which is when you rest and recover.”

Right now, that’s all water under the bridge, as the State Swim Meet is opened to all sectional qualifiers, yet the tide of change that occurred in Western Mass by local swimmers is what will be remembered most during this past Nemo storm.

“This created a firestorm around here – I think it’s great,” Roy said.

The girls will race Saturday at Springfield College at 10 a.m., while the boys will race Sunday at Harvard University.

Follow The Berkshire Beacon online for more swim coverage at berkshirebeacon.com.

Posted by Tim Davis on February 14, 2013. Filed under High School Sports,Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry