Tupelo Will Host Two State Swim Meets

TUPELO, Miss. — Tupelo’s new aquatics center will serve as the host site for two state championships in 2014: Short Course Mississippi Swimming State Championships, February 21-23, 2014 and the Long Course Mississippi Swimming State Championships, July 17-20, 2014. This is the first time any city has been awarded both championship meet venues within the same year since MS Swimming, Inc. began in 1987.

Tupelo was chosen over several other cities throughout the state. Over 400 swimmers are expected to participate in each championship event.

“Tupelo’s new aquatic center scheduled to open in January 2014 will have 20 lanes for short course and eight lanes for long course swimming,” said Amy Kennedy, aquatics facility director, Tupelo Parks & Recreation. “Tupelo’s Aquatic Center stands out because of the separate warm up pool that will not have any interference with the competition pool, and the bleacher seating for over 900 spectators. It will also have male and female dressing rooms, will have plenty of room for outside vendors to set up inside, and a hospitality room for coaches and officials.”

“The addition of this aquatic facility to our list of sports venues in Tupelo helps set us apart as a competitive youth sports market,” said Neal McCoy, executive director of the Tupelo Convention & Visitors Bureau. “In our old facility we could rarely host a meet with over 200 swimmers, and now we can easily host twice as many swimmers with room for growth. In order to bid for bigger events we must host two meets with more than 400 swimmers, and we hope to have accomplished that by June of 2014 with the Short Course State Championship and a Shockwave Invitational Meet.”