INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) has announced a new site for the 2021 and 2022 Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving Championships, as the event moves from Crawfordsville, Indiana, to Elkhart, Ind.
 
After spending the last six years at the Crawfordsville High School Aquatics Center since the inaugural event in 2015, the next two meets will be held in downtown Elkhart at the 170,000-square-foot Health and Aquatics center. This year's affair will take place Wednesday through Saturday, February 10-13.

Unfortunately, due to the local COVID-19 health guidelines that limit capacity in the facility to 180 participants, no spectators will be permitted to attend. Because of that protocol, the schedule of events will also be altered to separate the men's and the women's competitions respectively between morning and afternoon sessions. Timed finals will also be utilized for the first time in the Championship's history, while the diving competition will take place between the men's and women's swimming sessions.

Despite the inability to allow spectators, all four days of action will be streamed live and free on the GLVC Sports Network. The action can be viewed on GLVCSN.com or the many GLVCSN apps available on Android and iOS mobile devices, as well as OTT platforms on Roku, Android TV, Amazon fireTV, and Apple TV. More coverage details will be announced the week of the event, and additional event details can be found on the Championships homepage at GLVCsports.com/2021swim.

"We are grateful to have the opportunity to provide our student-athletes with a championship experience this year at one of the newest, premier facilities in the Midwest at the Elkhart Health & Aquatics Center," said GLVC Commissioner Jim Naumovich. "This venue not only features state-of-the-art technology, it also provides us with the space needed to host our swimmers and divers while maintaining the social distancing needed to comply with GLVC, facility, and Elkhart County COVID-19 mitigation protocol.

"I would like to thank Aquatics Director, Kevin Milak, the staff at the pool, Sonya Nash and the Elkhart County Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Mayor Rod Roberson for their support of our event," he added.
"The competition pool at Elkhart Health & Aquatics was built from the start to rival any facility in the country for both athlete performance and spectator experience," said Kevin Milak of the Elkhart Health & Aquatics Center. "We are excited to partner with the GLVC to give these athletes the best possible opportunity to excel."

"Here in Elkhart, we are proud of our Aquatics Center and are grateful for a chance to show it off," said Elkhart Mayor Rod Roberson. "We are excited to have competitors and coaches to experience our city and will welcome the GLVC with open arms."

"This is tremendous news for Elkhart County businesses to welcome the Great Lakes Valley Conference for at least the next two years," said Jon Hunsberger, executive director of the Elkhart County Convention & Visitors Bureau. "While COVID-19 prevents us from welcoming spectators this year, we are looking forward to building a relationship with all of the GLVC's member schools."

In addition, the Championships are being supported by a pair of sponsors in PNC Bank and the Team Indiana Grant Program.

"The Team Indiana Grant Program assists organizations hosting sports events that have a significant financial and community impact. That's why we are very excited to support the Great Lakes Valley Conference Swimming & Diving Championships when it comes to Elkhart in 2021 and 2022," said Shannon Sullivan, director of statewide initiatives and events for the Indiana Sports Corp. "This is a great opportunity to showcase our state's ability to host championship events, and having an amazing venue combined with a welcoming community like Elkhart is sure to create a memorable experience for the student-athletes, coaches, and fans."

Team Indiana is a collaboration of sports tourism representatives working to grow and promote sports tourism in Indiana.
 
About Elkhart and the Aquatics Center
The Elkhart Health & Aquatics Center sits in the heart of the city of Elkhart's growing River District neighborhood, where development over the past several months has included hundreds of new apartments and townhomes as well as commercial development, enhanced public park and river access, and streetscape improvements. The city of Elkhart, Community Foundation of Elkhart County, Beacon Health System and private investors all have worked tirelessly to bring about the vision of the River District and Elkhart Health & Aquatics Center.

The Elkhart County Convention & Visitors Bureau is the official tourism advertising/marketing and public/community relations organization for the Elkhart County hospitality industry. The ECCVB advances quality-of-place initiatives in our downtowns and rural spaces, parks and natural environment, arts and culture, and events, festivals, groups and activities that help forge social connections.