Swimmers get a second chance from MIAA

Reversing a previous decision, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) will allow high school swimmers who qualified for sectionals, but not states, to advance to states nevertheless.The sectional meet had been cancelled due to the “Nemo” blizzard that covered Massachusetts with over two feet of snow this past weekend. With the cancellation, the MIAA announced that those swimmers still looking to qualify for states would not get another chance to do so.However, a lobbying effort arose for these swimmers, especially swimmers in Western Mass, whose advocates included a pair of Olympians, Missy Franklin (herself a high-school senior in Colorado) and Ryan Lochte.In the wake of this effort, the MIAA posted a revised policy on its website: “With the support of our Swim Committee/Tournament leadership, we will be entering all of your individual swimmers as they were listed on the psych sheets for this past weekend’s Sectional Tournaments.”The organization cited “concerns forwarded by some of our school leaders in response to the cancellation of Sectional Swim Tournaments” as a reason for changing course.It also sounded as if the organization felt its latest move would not win unanimous approval.”There will be some questions or concerns related to this decision, but we believe that it is the best manner of providing tournament access to the maximum number of students possible,” the statement read.The states will take place this weekend at Springfield College.Rich Tenorio can be reached at [email protected].