CANTON, Ga. - The 2026 Southern Athletic Associaiton (SAA) swimming and diving championships are set for February 11-14 at Centre College.
Competition will begin on Wednesday, February 11 with the women's 1-meter diving prelims at 1:30 p.m. Finals will begin at 5:30 p.m. with the 200 medley relay, the conclusion of diving, and the 800 free relay. For competition the next three days, prelims will begin at 10:00 a.m. each morning with finals set for 6:00 p.m. The event will conclude with the awards ceremony Saturday evening.
MEN PREVIEW
Rhodes completed the quest to back-to-back championships last season by edging Centre with 1018 points over the four-day event, the second highest score in championship history. Runner-up and host, Centre College finished with 952.5 points while Berry took third with 507.5.
Trinity enters their first year with the SAA and has already snatched six conference open swim records in the 500 Free, 100 Back, 200 Back, 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay, and the 400 Medley Relay. The No. 24 Tigers enter the championship already making big noise during the regular season with diver Max Rolla-Mullis capturing three weekly honors and six individual swimmer of the week honors by other athletes.
Centre returns Newcomer of the Year, Brady Miller who won two championship events last season scoring 56 points while the Vikings hold back-to-back High-Point Swimmer of the Meet in Nick Fonzo who is also the 2024 Newcomer of the Year.
Rhodes jumped into this season claiming the first four athlete of the week honors with Parson Simmons leading the way for consecutive diving honors.
Host Centre holds the top marks of the season for 1M and 3M diving under last year's SAA Diving Coaching Staff of the Year.
WOMEN PREVIEW
Centre took home their second SAA Championship trophy with last seasons win after taking down the back-to-back champion in Rhodes. The hard fought battle to 1000 points for Centre and Rhodes in second with 971.5.
This season has been a battle each week for weekly honors between Centre and Trinity. However, Trinity enters the Championship at No. 21 in the national rankings and holding most SAA top times for the season. Neely Burns has captured the SAA Open Swim 400 IM record, the only record broken this season.
The only major awards winner from last season returning is Cate Coartney of Centre, the reigning SAA Newcomer of the Year after capturing 51 points.
Rhodes started off hot claiming the first two athlete of the week honors on their quest to reclaim their crown from 2024.
For more information on all things SAA, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the SAA's home on the internet at
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