MizzouRec took precautions in accordance with the SEC medical COVID-19 guidelines for the 2021 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships, held Feb.17-20 at the Mizzou Aquatic Center.
In an email, then-MU spokesperson Liz McCune said MizzouRec is following a number of precautions to keep the Mizzou Aquatic Center a safe environment.
“We are following the SEC medical guidelines as well as maintaining our MizzouRec guidelines toward distancing and face coverings similar to normal operations of the Aquatic Center,” McCune wrote.
The SEC medical guidelines state that swimming and diving student-athletes, coaches and essential staff must undergo PCR testing no more than three days prior to each competition.
For competitions scheduled over multiple days, testing is required three days prior to the last day of competition.
Nick Joos, the deputy athletics director of communications for MU’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, believes that the protocols the SEC has in place have been effective.
“I think that the protocols that we have in place to protect the student-athletes, the coaches and our staff have been working effectively,” Joos said. “[The SEC will] continue to utilize those as we move forward.”
McCune said teams were also tested before arriving in Columbia. Throughout the championships, MizzouRec had non-touch temperature checks at the entrance to the Mizzou Aquatic Center.
Within MizzouRec, changes have been made in the past year to accommodate COVID-19 policies. For the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships, coaches’ boxes — 12-foot spaces that allowed two coaches six feet of separation — were added. Mask hanging locations were also added in immediate proximity to all lanes so that participants can keep their mask on until reaching their lane.
Along with those changes, 6-foot separation was implemented for awards staging and team seating (six feet between teams and three to four seats between athletes). 6-foot separation was also implemented for sports information seating and walk-out chairs for finalists. In the south Student Recreation Center, tables as well as locations for massage therapists and athletic trainings, were also six feet apart.
“Teams [have] designated warm-up lanes for their practice times pre-competition as well as maximum capacities for swimmers in a lane and at the wall,” McCune wrote.
The bleachers and locker rooms were sprayed with disinfectant after each session during the championships. There were set capacities for the four locker rooms used during the event.
In order to limit the number of people in the facility, fans were not allowed to attend the championships. There was limited media access, as well.
“ESPN required 15 feet of separation for any camera and therefore all seats [were] blocked off 15 feet from their locations in the spectator area,” McCune wrote.
This was not the first swimming and diving event that MU has hosted this school year. They hosted two Mizzou NCAA Duals — a Mizzou Invitational and the Columbia Swim Club Tiger Invitational.
“These events were much smaller but [they] followed many of the same protocols on spacing, requiring face coverings and limiting contact,” McCune wrote.
Joos said testing protocols have also been consistent with MU-hosted events.
“Any event that we host — whether it’s a baseball game, softball game, whatever — both teams are being tested on a regular basis, based upon the testing protocols that are established by the conference that they participate in,” Joos said.
The SEC Swimming and Diving Championships will continue at the Mizzou Aquatic Center Feb. 23 for the Men’s Swimming event.
Edited by _ Sophie Chappell | schappell@themaneater.com _
