Behind the Scenes of the 2026 SEC Swim and Dive Championships

As over 300 of the nation’s finest aquatic athletes descended on Knoxville for the 2026 SEC Swim and Dive Championships, Marshall Goldman and Dylan Gross had been tasked with fixing one in all sport’s most advanced jigsaw puzzles— pulling off the week-long event with out a hitch.

Goldman, director of the Allan Jones Aquatic Center, and Gross, occasion administration director for Tennessee Athletics, sometimes stroll separate paths on a standard day on the job. Goldman oversees the day-to-day operations of the Allan Jones Aquatic Center, whereas Gross takes care of the behind-the-scenes operations for residence athletic occasions. But for an occasion like this, the pair started planning over a 12 months earlier than the primary splash was ever made. 

Before any preparations may very well be made, the duo needed to perceive who they had been planning for. It might not look like a lot on paper, however including up all of the members for a convention championship turns into monumental. 

For this event, held Feb. 16-21, the total rely for groups included round upwards of 300 athletes, in addition to their employees, 20 swim officers and 12 dive officers, in addition to fluctuating quantities of reporters, media crews, college students and volunteers.



Once the pair knew who they had been accounting for, they started to create hospitality plans for transportation, lodging, meals and parking, except for competitors. Once on web site, in addition they had to make sure that all groups had their very own areas to function from in the course of the event. 

The two tried to discover a option to give groups as a lot entry to their ordinary routines as potential. This meant offering areas for observe, restoration, conferences and spectating matches throughout competitors. 

“It takes a tremendous amount of being able to work together in a tremendous way and there’s a tremendous kind of organization that goes into it,”  Goldman mentioned. “When you just look at the nuts and bolts of it, the amount of students and student athletes all at one time, the amount of staff that you have to do, the amount of areas that you have to satisfy, you have to be ready for all of that. “

Tennessee is one in all solely 4 faculties within the convention with the capability to host swim and dive championships. Among the necessities to host are that the host facility should present seating for not less than 1,200 spectators, in addition to 12 warm-up and warm-down lanes to be used throughout energetic competitors. The host should additionally be capable of present a specific amount of deck house for every workforce in the course of the week.

The Allan Jones Aquatic Center simply accommodates these wants with seating for as much as 1,800 followers, in addition to deck house for two,000 extra people, workforce employees and different personnel. 

Goldman says that their division shares a particular relationship with UT Campus Recreation, which permits them to make use of their swimming amenities in the course of the SEC Championship.

“We are fortunate in the relationship we have with student life and the student rec center to be able to have lanes opened over there, which puts us well far and above [other facilities],” Goldman mentioned. “We had 17 possible training lanes and that’s because of a very positive partnership that we have with the Student Aquatic Center.”

A singular facet of internet hosting this championship is the chance Tennessee is ready to provide. The success of the occasion is ensured by a sturdy, hardworking workforce of volunteers and college students. 

Each day, round 75 volunteer employees members labored across the clock to make sure the event ran easily. Volunteers had been essential in all areas of the operation, together with registration, hospitality, statistical distribution, athlete help between rounds and award displays.

Volunteers of all ages had been in a position to achieve hands-on expertise in working a large-scale occasion throughout this event. Participants ranged from grade college college students who bought their first style of working in sports activities all the way in which to present school college students who wish to ahead their skilled careers.

Goldman credit a working partnership with campus professors, in addition to nonprofit group Visit Knoxville, with serving to recruit volunteers to assist run the occasion. 

“We have a good working relationship with Rob Hardin and the sports management group on campus. Half were derived from his list of students and half were derived from Visit Knoxville,” Goldman mentioned. 

The occasion offered rather more than simply alternatives for college students and athletes. As a results of the practically 400 student-athletes, their households, followers, media, and volunteers, the occasion generated $3.7 million in income for companies throughout town of Knoxville over the course of the week. 

“I think that’s a pretty cool way to look at how the event also helps shape what is happening in Knoxville,” Goldman mentioned. 

With the conclusion of this 12 months’s occasion, the championship will bounce round to a few different places throughout the SEC earlier than returning to Tennessee in just a few years. In the meantime, Tennessee will nonetheless use the Allan Jones Aquatic Center for collegiate and non-collegiate competitions. 

Some of those occasions embrace internet hosting the ASUN Swim and Dive Championships, in addition to a USA Swimming competitors over the summer season whereas Tennessee is out of the pool.

 

While these occasions are at the moment the main focus of people equivalent to Goldman and Gross, planning for the subsequent SEC Championships has already begun. 

“We’re looking forward to doing it again in four years,” Goldman mentioned. “It’ll be here before you know it.”