The Michigan men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams were originally set to host a double-dual meet this weekend against Virginia and Tennessee. However, on Wednesday, the program was informed that both other teams had pulled out of the meet due to safety concerns. The meet was canceled and the Wolverines will host an intrasquad Friday night instead.
“The health and safety of all competitors is always our top priority,” a team spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday night. “Following previous reports of a common waterborne illness, we collaborated with the University of Michigan Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) office on a thorough set of procedures to test and clean the water at Canham Natatorium.”
According to the statement, the pool was cleared for safe use last Thursday, Oct. 10, and its safety was reaffirmed on Tuesday after follow-up lab tests. Despite that, the two other teams pulled out of the meet.
A Tennessee representative declined to comment. The Virginia swimming and diving program and the Michigan EHS office did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.
The two teams instead are hosting their own dual meet at the Volunteers’ home pool in Knoxville, Tenn.
When asked for further comment, a Michigan spokesperson directed The Daily to the original statement, but noted that a few swim team members were pulled out of the water last week for precautionary reasons, which caused the initial concern.
The spokesperson for the Wolverines also emphasized that the decision was originally the other two teams’, and Michigan only canceled the meet because it no longer had anyone to compete against.
Forced to adjust and wanting to still give the swimmers a chance to compete, the staff scheduled the intrasquad instead for Friday at 5 p.m. at Canham Natatorium.