Va. Beach to Host AAA Meet

The Virginia AAA swimming and diving championships will be held in Virginia Beach -- not Manassas, as originally scheduled -- after Kellam High Athletic Director Jim Moxey and a group of volunteers agreed to host the meet on Feb. 9-10.

The Virginia High School League was prepared to cancel the championships next week if no one volunteered to host the event.

"That is a cause for celebration," VHSL Executive Director Ken Tilley said.

Virginia Beach last hosted the state championships in 2003 at Princess Anne Recreation Center. National records set at that meet were thrown out when it was discovered that the pool was slightly short of 25 meters.

This year's meet will be held at Bayside Recreation Center, home of the Eastern Region championships. The pool there is 25 meters long, while pools used for competition in the Northern and Northwestern regions are normally 25 yards (22.86 meters).

Robinson Coach Rich Gordon said that his swimmers are "psyched" about taking an overnight trip and that swimming in a pool measured in meters would require only a slight adjustment.

"In terms of [split] times, they're not really going to know by comparison what their time will be," Gordon said. "We'll have to rely on their feel."

-- Rich Campbell