Really bummed about the cancellation. After wanting to do this swim for a few years, when I saw that it was a national championship this year, I decided to commit. Traveled a long way (from Oregon) and spent a lot of money (a whole lot, actually -- Chicago isn't a cheap town!) to get here to do Big Shoulders. So upset that the weather didn't cooperate. I understand and agree with the decision to cancel, but I wish that there had been some contingency plan that could have worked so that the event could have gone off despite the weather.
For those of us who traveled very far to compete, and who are on a fixed financial budget and have to plan long in advance for this sort of trip, of it is really unfortunate. It's a understatement to say that I am disappointed that I decided to do this swim this year and spent so much money traveling to get here.
In the future, perhaps USMS should have a contingency plan in place for all national championships that will allow the race to go on (or be highly probable to go on) in the event of unforeseen circumstances or bad weather? If not, it's going to make me think very long and very hard about going to future USMS open water national championships that are located in places and scheduled at times when the weather might be unpredictable.
Really bummed about the cancellation. After wanting to do this swim for a few years, when I saw that it was a national championship this year, I decided to commit. Traveled a long way (from Oregon) and spent a lot of money (a whole lot, actually -- Chicago isn't a cheap town!) to get here to do Big Shoulders. So upset that the weather didn't cooperate. I understand and agree with the decision to cancel, but I wish that there had been some contingency plan that could have worked so that the event could have gone off despite the weather.
For those of us who traveled very far to compete, and who are on a fixed financial budget and have to plan long in advance for this sort of trip, of it is really unfortunate. It's a understatement to say that I am disappointed that I decided to do this swim this year and spent so much money traveling to get here.
In the future, perhaps USMS should have a contingency plan in place for all national championships that will allow the race to go on (or be highly probable to go on) in the event of unforeseen circumstances or bad weather? If not, it's going to make me think very long and very hard about going to future USMS open water national championships that are located in places and scheduled at times when the weather might be unpredictable.
