In a board meeting held Wednesday, February 17, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) Board of Control voted to revise the swim and dive postseason format for this year only and eliminate a centrally located state meet. Instead, they decided to have three semistates that will determine state champions.

     There will be nine regional swimming and diving meets held during a two-week window from April 5-18. The three semistate meets will be held during the week of April 19. Semistate One will consist of Regions 1, 2 and 3; Semistate Two of Regions 4, 5 and 6; and Semistate Three of Regions 7, 8 and 9.

     After the three semistates, the KHSAA will compare times to determine state champions, both individual and team, and places.

     KHSAA’s decision to replace state meets with semi-state meets has made a big impact on the Highlands High School (HHS)swim team.

     Sophomore Gracie Smith believes that this is a wise solution to the current situation caused by the pandemic. “I think semistates is a smart way to have such a large meet but keep everyone safe,” she explained. “It’s good because we will still be competing against everyone as if it were a normal state except they will have different locations.”

     Although this is an unfortunate result of the pandemic, Kentucky is not the only state to do something similar to this. Several states have actually canceled their swimming seasons, and a majority of states are doing some kind of modification for one year.

     Members of the swim team and their fans hope to not have to deal with these conditions next year,  but in the meantime, it is important to stay safe, which is exactly what KHSAA is trying to do.