by Riley Overend
The 2023 Columbus Sectionals were canceled on Sunday due to a medical emergency at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.
A spokesperson for Ohio State University told SwimSwam that a 14-year-old had a cardiac event in the water. CPR was performed by lifeguards and medical services teams on site before the participant was transported to Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center. Additional information was not available at this time.
Sources on deck had told SwimSwam that an individual was pulled out of the diving well that was being used as a warm-up and cool-down space.
The 200 freestyle relay, 50 breaststroke, 200 IM, women’s 1500 free, men’s 800 free, 100 free, and 400 medley relays were scheduled for Sunday night.
Update, 9:13 p.m. EST on June 16:
OLY Swimming (Oakland, Michigan) made public social media posts on Sunday evening confirming that the swimmer who had to be rescued was one of theirs.
“You may have heard that an OLY swimmer was involved in a medical emergency at the Sectional meet at Sunday finals, in Columbus, OH.
We can confirm that a member of our OLY family was involved but that is all we are confirming at this time.”
The club thanked the people at the natatorium who responded to the event, and asked the swimming community to keep the team in their thoughts and prayers.
We are grateful for the lifeguards, medical staff, and OSU Natatorium staff who helped during this emergency.
We ask that you continue to keep our OLY family in your thoughts and prayers.
Columbus Sectionals Canceled After Swimmer Suffers Cardiac Event in the Water (UPDATE)