Has the Championship Committee, or other entity within USMS ever discussed having a more strict policy of enforcement in regards to the NQT's?
Why do we state that you must have 3 cuts, in order to swim more events? Why not require a swimmer to have 6 cuts in order to swim 6 events?
Just like to understand more from a historical point of view. I have read post that asked, or suggested how to control the size and length of the National meets. Would not having a stricter enforcement of this policy help? Or would it cause swimmers to shy away from these meets?
Just a curious thought.
Thank you.
Although I have little interest in pool races, please allow me to throw in my (relatively uninformed) two cents.
I think that what this issue really is about is capacity planning and NQT's are only a tool to reach that end. To wit, if a meet's size exceeds the ability of organizers to conduct it, it implodes under its own "weight". Therefore, the real issue is "How big can a meet get without either making it either unmanageable, making it beyond the reach of most associations to conduct, or making the stress/expense of hosting it so great that no one wants to do it?"
So, based on the above, we first must decide if the nationals are:
a) currently unmanageable
b) just the right level of manageablity
c) could be managed without severe pain if larger
If a) is true, then you can either shrink the size of the meet to fit the alloted/desired time or expand the timeframe to accept the number of participants. The most consistent/fair method of decreasing the number of participants is probably making NQT's tighter. Expanding the timeframe, short of using Einstein's relativity principles, become a matter of deciding whether expanding the duration is possible based on stress/expense/logistics.
If b) is true, then why mess with what you have? The NQT's are doing their job and doing them well.
If c) is true, then again, use the NQT's to get more people in the meet by loosening them a bit.
As an aside, it seems that another alternative, at least in theory since I'm not sure of the realities involved, is to expand the space used. In other words, are there many/any locations where there are two pools of good quality and of the right size that are in close proximity so that the meet could be split into two locations. This skirts both the capacity and time issue to some degree although it does NOT skirt the logistics/stress issue and has some added stress that goes with it. Just a thought...
The unfortunate truth here is that there is a capacity beyond which the Nationals will not work, despite our desire for egalitarianism. If that point is reached, it must be dealt with for the good of the meet and, hopefully, done in the most fair manner. And that sure looks like NQT's from where I'm swimming.
-LBJ (Who will only make the 1650/1500 NQT in his dreams)
Although I have little interest in pool races, please allow me to throw in my (relatively uninformed) two cents.
I think that what this issue really is about is capacity planning and NQT's are only a tool to reach that end. To wit, if a meet's size exceeds the ability of organizers to conduct it, it implodes under its own "weight". Therefore, the real issue is "How big can a meet get without either making it either unmanageable, making it beyond the reach of most associations to conduct, or making the stress/expense of hosting it so great that no one wants to do it?"
So, based on the above, we first must decide if the nationals are:
a) currently unmanageable
b) just the right level of manageablity
c) could be managed without severe pain if larger
If a) is true, then you can either shrink the size of the meet to fit the alloted/desired time or expand the timeframe to accept the number of participants. The most consistent/fair method of decreasing the number of participants is probably making NQT's tighter. Expanding the timeframe, short of using Einstein's relativity principles, become a matter of deciding whether expanding the duration is possible based on stress/expense/logistics.
If b) is true, then why mess with what you have? The NQT's are doing their job and doing them well.
If c) is true, then again, use the NQT's to get more people in the meet by loosening them a bit.
As an aside, it seems that another alternative, at least in theory since I'm not sure of the realities involved, is to expand the space used. In other words, are there many/any locations where there are two pools of good quality and of the right size that are in close proximity so that the meet could be split into two locations. This skirts both the capacity and time issue to some degree although it does NOT skirt the logistics/stress issue and has some added stress that goes with it. Just a thought...
The unfortunate truth here is that there is a capacity beyond which the Nationals will not work, despite our desire for egalitarianism. If that point is reached, it must be dealt with for the good of the meet and, hopefully, done in the most fair manner. And that sure looks like NQT's from where I'm swimming.
-LBJ (Who will only make the 1650/1500 NQT in his dreams)
