By Emma Gresser, Swimming World College Intern
Five short years ago, my teammates and I were huddled around the computer awaiting the state meet psych sheet to confirm we had made the cut to swim at the “Greatest High School Swim Meet in the USA.”
If you are an Ohio swimmer, from a beginning level to a retired swimmer, you know to clear your calendar at the end of every February. Growing up my siblings and I heard about the great stories of when my uncle and mother swam at the state meet in the mid-1980s. My family of swimmers inspired both my sister and I to achieve the honor of competing in this meet.
C.T. Branin Natatorium was named after Canton McKinley swim coach Ted Branin (1928-1972). The pool opened in 1975 as a gift from the well-known Canton Timken Foundation to the Canton City Schools and the City of Canton. This natatorium has hosted the Ohio High School Athletic Association State Swimming and Diving Championships since 1976 for men and 1980 for women.
The stands seat up to 2,400 people to crowd around the three sides of the eight-lane pool. With additional room for 1,000 people on deck, it makes for a profuse amount of noise and cheering.
After 38 years, why would the championships not be held at a new facility? The OHSAA State Meet is not the same meet unless it is in Canton, Ohio. Any Ohio swimmer can attest to the pool in Canton being one the best racing environments in the sport.
Olympian Mark Gangloff, Olympian Diana Munz, NCAA champion Whitney Myers, NCAA champion Margo Geer, NCAA champion Austin Staab and several others have left a mark at this pool.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H.Bick
People come to this meet to watch fast swimming. Spectators line the walls of the natatorium as early as 11 p.m. to camp out and wait in line for the number they receive at 10 a.m. the next day to get seats.
Schools such as Cincinnati’s St.Xavier and Columbus’ Upper Arlington have made a history for their seating arrangements. Fans know not to sit in “their seats” as Xavier can be found closest to the scoreboard and UA is right at the end of the pool.
I can remember seeing my family race into the stands to find the best seats in the house when I was warming up to compete. Once the fans are in, the energy is electric. Great music, dancing, and obnoxious school spirit in the stands and on the deck allows the swimmers to feed off of the positive atmosphere.
The State Tournament Director and current Canton McKinley high school swim coach Sam Seiple is the constant behind the scenes at every state meet. After swimming at the first OHSAA Championships held at C.T. Branin Natatorium, Seiple now runs the meet at the historic venue and has done a terrific job for the past 21 years.
“The city of Canton is always known as football USA, but if you asked sales managers at hotels, restaurants, or the malls, they know how much their businesses count on big events at the natatorium,” Seiple shares. “When I signed the new 10-year contract from the OHSAA, it just showed what a great job my staff does, and how we run the best high school championship meet in the USA. We look forward to it every year!”
In 2008, the OHSAA signed a 10-year contract extension with Canton City Schools to keep the state swimming and diving championships in Canton, Ohio. This means the state championships will continue to be at it’s home in Canton through at least the 2018 season.
This weekend, I will be on the other side of the spectrum anxiously waiting in line with my family and friends to watch the men’s 88th annual and women’s 39th annual OHSAA State Swimming and Diving Championships.
Watching my sister swim in the meet will bring back so many incredible memories and teach me how my mother felt watching me swim at the same pool she swam in during high school. Generation to generation this meet has made an impact on all Ohio swimmers. The bonds with teammates, coaches, family, friends, and competitors are all molded into one at the greatest high school swim meets in the USA…always to be held in Canton, Ohio.
The OHSAA State Swimming and Diving Championships Competition Schedule
Wednesday, February 25
9:00 A.M. Girls Division II Diving Competition
2:00 P.M. Boys Division II Diving Competition
Thursday, February 26
9:00 A.M. Girls Division I Diving Competition
5:00 P.M. Girls and Boys Division II Preliminaries: all events, 15 minute break after 100 fly
Friday, February 27
9:00 A.M. Girls and Boys Div. I Preliminaries:
all events, 15 minute break after 100 fly
5:00 P.M. Girls and Boys Div. II Finals:
all events, 15 minute break after 100 fly
Saturday, February 28
9:00 A.M. Boys Division I Diving Competition
4:00 P.M. Girls and Boys Division I Finals:
all events, 15 minute break after 100 fly, awards following each event
For more information visit ohsaa.org.
Great article Emma.
Will you be able to post Times?
Lynne Croyle Stark
I agree it’s the greatest high school meet in the country. It’s a great venue and a blast! However, Sam Seiple needs to be called out for the insanely stupid numbering system that just might send a parent to a hospital this year with temperatures below zero. Making parents line up for numbers and camp out overnight is malpractice when everyone knows exactly where every school is going to sit. As the author noted, St. X and Upper Arlington always sit in the same place. The same is true for Centerville, Mason, Ursuline, Toledo, etc. So, please stop the insanity and just assign blocks to schools in traditional seating locations based on how many swimmers each school has qualified. Really, it’s not that hard! Everyone else can then fill in the holes.
I totally agree with Geoff. As the parent of individual state qualifiers from a small team ( 1 swimmer)…we should not be relegated to nose bleed sections. Block seating is a great idea and fair for all. School affiliation, politics and money should not determine seat location.
Amen James! No matter how big or how small, if your kid qualifies, you should get a ticket and a block where your school should sit. I don’t think any of the big or small schools would even care if the traditional seating locations stay the same because every seat inside CT Brannin Natatorium is a good one 🙂
Wonderful article. The excitement grows every year
Hopefully we will have a repeat champion in the Breaststroke. GO GRESSER
Why not let parents have first crack at the seats, then open the rest of the seats to others? The constant battle to get seats makes it such a stressful time for everyone.
Lots of great memories of this place, watching my sons compete here!
Um, yeah. Is there even a debate? 🙂
I am feeling old now….I remember the first state meet in canton… in 1975 (not 1976)
We are here now! It is an incredible environment!
Gotta say that the PIAA State championship is better
I don’t know, Ohio state champs look pretty intense. Pennsylvania should step its game up. They need a larger more intimate venue and could use higher quality swimmers.
Clearly you’ve never attended the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association State Swimming and Diving Championships. It’s the most intense and one of the fastest state championship meets in the country. Perhaps you would be interested in attending it with me over spring break?
Have seen several NCAA championship meets and other state high school meets. Nothing competes with OHSAA state meet!
Let’s not forget that St. Xavier has won the state championship 35 times……out of 88.
87* even better
St. x should win….. Even more than u mention as they recute the best boy swimmers in the entire cincinnat area.
Really not that fair in my opinion – this coming from a smaller hs with a past division one swimmer at this venue
While we enjoyed great results, that place (in Canton) was nuts! The air was always bad, there was never enough seating for the spectators who waited for hours to rush in and secure a seat, and the poor swimmers were super crowded on the pool deck. That being said, it was a rush! And don’t forget Olympic Gold and Silver medalist, backstroker Nick Thoman from Mariemont,!
Wonder how many athletes will be back to the pool on Monday to start the rebuilding process of improving techniques and base endurance training to prep themselves for USA or YMCA championship meets?
Thanks! We strive to have the best state tournaments for the best student-athletes!
And the only thing OHSAA can do better is simply assign seating blocks for each school. Please OHSAA. Please, please, please spare the parents the insanity of the numbering system. And if someone says that won’t be fair for the smaller schools, I’d only say this: THE CURRENT SYSTEM ISN’T FAIR EITHER BECAUSE ST. X CAN SEND 30 NONQUALIFIERS TO SLEEP OUT FOR NUMBERS.
It’s a shame we can’t have our half time show anymore by Upper Arlington. I always enjoyed the parents coming together. Please consider bringing back that tradition. We always had a bet as to which song they would pick.
Swimming, maybe. I can’t say I have the experience to agree or disagree; it certainly seems like an intense meet. But for diving, as former athlete and coach, it’s not all that fantastic of a facility as they claim in the article. There’s not a good angle from which to watch the diving events.
Great meet ( I had the pleasure to coach an Ohio High School team in Canton two years ago) but the pool needs an upgrade. The gutters were horrible and any swimmers assigned to the outside lanes were at a distinct disadvantage. Our district meet was at Miami University and going to the Canton pool after that was a major step down. The crowd was awesome…I’ll give you that, but the pool is like something out of the 1960s.
I will concede everyone’s downside comments about the venue. There are newer and nicer facilities at the colleges mentioned, but they were built without spectators in mind. No pool in the state today can hold that many people that close to the water.
Same with the seating system…it stinks. I remember a lady telling me she got there early (at 7 am) to see her daughter swim. She was disappointed that she didn’t get a seat near her girl’s lane I felt bad for her because I knew that she needed to be there with us at 3 am to have any hope of getting what she wanted. I heard a different version of that same story the next year. Each time I told them the same thing…Come back here right before your heat… for that you can have my seat.
Say what you want, but let me say this. I had the most fun at that pool for the championship than any other sporting event of any kind. The event is fantastic.
Women’s meet was held there 1978. I got 6th in the 100 BR for Cleveland Hts.
Nope! Best high school meets ever are where your own kids are swimming!
While I agree the venue is electric and exciting, I disagree that this is the best place for the State Swim Competition. We have far greater facilities and faster pools in the state of Ohio for our kids to swim in. We are doing a great disservice to these kids who train so very hard and put in more hours than football, basketball etc. OSU has a brand new facility that is state of the art design with the swimmer in mind. Additionally, Columbus has much more lodging choices and restaurants for all of the spectators. Lastly, the atrocious method of camping out in February to secure a number in order for the fans to sit together is insulting to us parents. Swim parents volunteer and run each and every meet throughout the course of the season which you can not say that about Football,(which is now played at The Shoe!)basketball or baseball parents. To have us camp out in frigid temps and treat us like cattle while taking our tickets to enter the venue is degrading. I find the entire process disgusting in nature and to think that OHSAA can not come up with a better formula is disturbing at best. It is my hope that one day the “politics” and “money” would not play a role in High School sports but sadly I am afraid that day will never come!
Betsy Noonan’s got it right!
I totally agree with you Betsy it comes down to the old US dollar. So having the event there brings in a ton of revenue for the Canton area which is good thing. I don’t have a swimmer in HS anymore but heard they did hand out “blocks” of numbers to each school this year thereby eliminating the early wake up call at 3 am to get a low number.
I’ve been to many nicer pools in the state and I know CT Branin “does not” have a ballast system like is engineered in a high-tech pool today that eliminates all those nasty waves for the kids. One year at Canton I saw a boy win the 100f in lane eight in the finals. After getting out of the pool he went over to a trash can and threw-up before proceeding to hugging his coach. It was the best swim I’ve ever witnessed there and it was not my kid. What I like about swimming —- it’s all about the time— no favoritism comes in to play as you often see in other sports. To win in those outside lanes at Canton is a monster challenge and means that much more.
Emma’s mom, Missy & her Uncle Mark swam for their Perry High School
panther’s teams with much success. It’s so great to have these multiple generations be able to experience such a racing facility & environment. I’m also so glad & proud that I was able to be a Head Coach in OHIO for 23 wonderful coaching years. Many magnificent memories.
great article and so true! I’ve been to many different HS state meets throughout the country and nothing is quite like the Ohio meet. How though could you leave Joe Hudepohl off your list??