A Meet to Remember and Forget: When the Norovirus Rocked the 2010 NCAA Men’s Championships
The 2010 men’s NCAAs will be remembered for Texas winning its historic 10th crown, moving the program within one team title of Michigan and Ohio State for the most all-time. Sadly, it was also the meet that was delayed a day after several swimmers and one coach from Texas, Arizona and Stanford became ill upon arrival to the meet, and had to be treated at Ohio State’s medical center due to Norovirus infection.
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Most years at the NCAA Championships, there’s a low murmur about sickness affecting specific athletes. It’s never an enjoyable storyline, as hard work and dedication are immediately countered by an issue out of an individual’s control. Bad luck? Absolutely.
But at the 2010 edition of the NCAA Men’s Championships, illness was the predominant theme, as Norovirus—a gastrointestinal malady—forced the competition into a schedule change. Rather than unfolding from Thursday through Saturday, the meet was delayed by a day and featured a Friday-through-Sunday timetable.
As teams arrived in Columbus, Ohio, where Ohio State University served as host, word spread quickly about a stomach bug that was, well, spreading quickly. Several athletes were forced to visit the Ohio State Medical Center to receive treatment for symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration and fever. Due to the high number of individuals affected, the Center for Disease Control was notified.
While there were initial questions as to where the Norovirus outbreak initiated, it was later suspected that a flight from Dallas to Columbus was the reason. That flight carried swimmers from the University of Texas, University of Arizona and Stanford University—and all three schools had multiple team members show symptoms of the Norovirus illness.
Health officials in Columbus inspected the pool at McCorkle Pavilion and determined that the facility was immaculate in its cleanliness, and not the cause for the illness’ spread. However, because Norovirus is highly contagious, the NCAA, in consultation with coaches, decided to start the championship event a day later than planned.
“We’re backtracking from the time they were in the Dallas airport—what they ate there or when they got on the plane, what they did immediately when they got into town,” said Amanda Ford, a spokesperson for the Columbus Health Department. “We are trying to see what links did they actually have.”
Although Norovirus is easily spread, symptoms tend to dissipate between 24 and 48 hours after appearing. Consequently, the decision was made to adopt only the one-day delay. More, affected athletes were able to return to the pool and represent their schools in what is the annual bow on the collegiate season.
Despite being one of the teams hit by the Norovirus, Texas emerged victorious, scoring 500 points to outdistance runner-up Cal (469.5). The other teams most affected by the illness, Arizona and Stanford, finished third and fourth in the team standings. The title was the 10th for the Longhorns and Coach Eddie Reese.
Austin Surhoff secured the lone individual title for Texas, as he won the 200 individual medley. Florida’s Conor Dwyer was one of the top performers, winning the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle. The meet also included Nathan Adrian prevailing in the 100 freestyle for Cal.
Six years later, the Norovirus hit the 2016 Big Ten Conference Women’s Championships, which was held at the University of Michigan’s Canham Natatorium.