World University Games Vetting Open Water Sites for 2029 in North Carolina
The 2029 World University Games spent last week vetting sites for the open water competition at the meet in North Carolina and has settled on a location.
Hill Carrow, the chairman and CEO of the 2029 event, hosted Sid Cassidy, the long-time chairman of the World Aquatics Open Water Committee. They vetted sites in the Greensboro and High Point, N.C., area and made a selection that will be released later in the month.
“We have selected what we believe to be the best Open Water site for the Games,” Carrow wrote in an update, “which we will share with FISU’s Summer Games staff when they arrive for a Site Visit at the end of the month.”
North Carolina was awarded the 2029 event in January 2023, months after its bid to host the 2027 event fell short of the bid of Chungcheong, South Korea. The multi-sport event for global university students organized by the International University Sports Federation (FISU) will be hosted by a coalition of 19 colleges and universities from Raleigh to Greensboro.
Aquatics events will be hosted by the Greensboro Aquatic Center, which was also part of the tour taken by Carrow and Cassidy, the duo meeting with GAC Director David Hoover.
Cassidy is one of the biggest figures in the expansion of open water swimming globally, from beyond World Aquatics events and into other meets, including the Olympics. He was part of the inclusion of the marathon 10-kilometer swim at the Olympics for the first time in 2008.
The NC State grad and Kinston native is a member of the North Carolina Swimming Hall of Fame and was inducted in 2024 to the International Swimming Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He’s also been recognized with awards from CSCAA, World Aquatics/FINA and the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Cassidy is now based in Florida, where he’s the aquatics director at Saint Andrew’s School.