Swimming and Diving State Meet Continues to Show Off Student Success
By Stephanie Ramirez, Communications Officer | Monday, February 21, 2011 10:54 AM
Swimmers compete at the 2011 UIL State Swimming and Diving Meet.
Photo by Nakita Loving
Every year, records at the UIL State Swimmming & Diving Meet are broken, new swimmers and divers come to compete at the state level and new techniques are learned. But one thing that always stays constant is the fact that these things will continue to change. Since its inception as a UIL-sanctioned event in 1970, the UIL Swimming & Diving State Meet has evolved to what it is today: one of the fastest swim meets in the country producing several national records.
This year, the State Swimming and Diving Meet was held Feb. 18-19. For results, go to http://www.uiltexas.org/swimming-diving/state/results.
Originally, the State Meet was held at Gregory Gym on the University of Texas campus. When the Texas Olympic Swim Center, now the Jamail Texas Swimming Center, was completed in 1977, the Meet was moved and has been held there since 1978.
Several events have been added and removed throughout the last 40 years. Some events were only in existence for a few years, and one event was only a girls’ event. The 300-yard freestyle swim was a girls’ event from 1970 to 1972, while the boys swam the 400-yard freestyle during that time. Both boys and girls swam the 400-yard freestyle for one year in 1973. The next year, the 400-yard freestyle swim switched to the 500-yard freestyle swim for both boys and girls, which has remained an event since 1974.
Another thing that has consistently changed throughout the history of the State Swimming & Diving Meet is the progression of faster swim times. Traci Neely, State Swimming & Diving Meet Director and UIL Assistant Athletic Director, said one of the reasons swimmers get consistently better is because of the effective year-round training schedules coaches across the state have implemented. The training strategy of using macrocycles and microcycles is used so that swimmers do not peak before the regional and state meets.
One of the most recent additions to the UIL State Swimming & Diving Meet was the addition of the consolation finals round in the 1997-98 school year. Prior to this, swimmers who did not advance to the finals were finished after the first day of swimming prelims. Under the current system, all swimmers who qualify for the State Meet swim on both Friday and Saturday. Up until the 1997 Swim Meet, places one through six were the only swimmers scored. Under the new system, 16 places are scored, allowing for more points to go toward the tally for the team state championship.
“Swimming the consolation rounds allows the student athletes to have one last swim for the season as well as give them the opportunity to still contribute to their team points for the team state championship,” said UIL Executive Director Dr. Charles Breithaupt.
While there have been several changes to the swimming portion of the State Meet, diving has remained consistent throughout the years.
“We’re very blessed to have some of the best divers in the country,” Breithaupt said. “The coaching and talent amongst the divers and judges allows for us to be one of the few states to still offer it.”
The evolution of each UIL-sanctioned event is a natural process. The State Swimming & Diving Meet has seen several changes over the last few decades, but it surely has not seen the last. The UIL is constantly looking to better its events for its student participants.
“The swim meet started very rudimentary, but it has come such a long way,” Breithaupt said. “Swimming has its own culture, and student athletes are just drawn to it. It’s very refreshing to see the talent every year at the State Swim Meet.”