NO CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR SWIM & DIVE

Outcry loud, but CIF must stick to local pandemic guidelines

After the CIF Swim & Dive Championships were canceled Friday, the outcry has been long, loud and not totally unexpected.

“We’re in the business of getting our students an opportunity to compete, not denying them that opportunity,” said CIF San Diego Section Commissioner Joe Heinz.

“So it was a very difficult decision to cancel the swim and dive championships. But we’re governed by the county rules, and those rules say no more than four cohorts at any one site.

“We asked multiple times if there was any way to hold our championships, and were told no. So canceling was the only thing we could do.”

The Swim & Dive Championships

were scheduled for April 24. And while a site hadn’t been announced, they probably would have been at Granite Hills High.

“Swim and dive is similar to cross country,” Heinz said.

“We had to cancel cross country, too, and for the same reasons. We aren’t allowed to have multiple teams competing at the same site.”

There are 33 Division I swim teams in the San Diego Section and 45 in Division II. With boys and girls swimming on the same day, that means 66 teams in Division I and 90 in Division II. Some of those are from Imperial County and one is from Riverside County.

If teams are asked to social distance, team tents would stretch into the parking lot — even at a site as large as Granite Hills.

One of the complaints about canceling swim and dive is that football — with larger squads and closer contact — is being allowed to play.

“The difference is that football is two teams at one site,” Heinz said.

“It’s not about the number of athletes, but the number of cohorts,” said Todd Cassen, the section’s assistant commissioner.

This week’s Lions Baseball Tournament is being affected by the county ruling.

Normally, the Lions Tournament has semifinals and finals on Thursday at the same site. County rules prohibit playing two games on the same day and limit facilities to two teams.

For the same reason, the Cougar Classic, which annually attracts dozens of softball teams to Kit Carson Park in Escondido for a tournament, will not be played.

Under the same rule, boys and girls basketball will not play tournaments this season.

None of the Season 1 sports — football, cross country, field hockey, swim & dive, golf and tennis — will have championships. Most seasons have been cut short.

Season 2 sports will play a full season and championships are planned.

Those championships, however, will most likely be at high school sites and not at college sites such as San Diego State, USD or UC San Diego as in the past.

And there probably won’t be multiple games at one site, meaning there could be up to 10 championship sites for each sport — all on high school campuses.

Heinz anticipates a decision on CIF Regional and State playoffs for Season 2 sports will be made in the next few weeks.

“Track will be a challenge with only four teams allowed at one site,” Heinz said. “The biggest events in track are the invitationals and the league meets.

“The county has been a good partner for us. And we’re doing everything to assure our athletes get the best chance to compete.”