Thanks to everyone involved in the Ft. Lauderdale Nationals. I had a great time and met some exceptional people. I especially want to thank Doug Malcolm for the competition in the adjacent lane. It looks like (from USMS data) you have not competed for quite a while and had a great meet! I had not competed for over 20 years when I entered the 2001 Nat's at Santa Clara and have done pretty well for the past few years. Doug exemplifies what our sport should be all about; a true competitor who brings out the best in someone like me who may not have accomplished the standards acheived in Ft. Lauderdale without someone like him next to me. I never got a chance to thank you so I am doing so now. Keep up the good work!
I would also like to congradulate John Blank for being the first male competitor over 45 to break one minute in the 100 yard breaststroke; a great accomplishment! I have never broken a minute in that event and am full of envy.
Lee Rider
OK - I'm sorry for bringing up the club scoring issue after the meet....I had no idea that It would garner so much attention (and emotion). I just wanted to find out why the old system was dropped cause it was really fun competing against other small clubs. Our team (VCM) had a blast a few years ago in Indy, Hawaii, and Tempe battling for the small men's team title (2nd & 3rd in Indy & HI). Now it's different and I was just curious why the switch was made.....and I wanted to put my vote in for going back to the old system or something new that would involve all sizes of teams/clubs, especially the smaller individual clubs. I know no system is perfect and not everyone will be happy, but I guess the question has to be asked.....is there a better system? I think it would be awesome if we put our heads together and came up with "the model system" that other athletic associations (i.e., Masters track & field, cycling, triathlon, etc.) looked to as an example for team scoring. Maybe I'm dreaming.
Paul and John Smith, great job on you efforts with CMS....your hard work (and talent) has paid off for CMS and USMS. You probably encouraged many swimmers to attend nationals who would have otherwise not come - that's great. By the way Paul, you STILL owe me a case of beer for those two 50 back bets.....double or nothing again??
OK - I'm sorry for bringing up the club scoring issue after the meet....I had no idea that It would garner so much attention (and emotion). I just wanted to find out why the old system was dropped cause it was really fun competing against other small clubs. Our team (VCM) had a blast a few years ago in Indy, Hawaii, and Tempe battling for the small men's team title (2nd & 3rd in Indy & HI). Now it's different and I was just curious why the switch was made.....and I wanted to put my vote in for going back to the old system or something new that would involve all sizes of teams/clubs, especially the smaller individual clubs. I know no system is perfect and not everyone will be happy, but I guess the question has to be asked.....is there a better system? I think it would be awesome if we put our heads together and came up with "the model system" that other athletic associations (i.e., Masters track & field, cycling, triathlon, etc.) looked to as an example for team scoring. Maybe I'm dreaming.
Paul and John Smith, great job on you efforts with CMS....your hard work (and talent) has paid off for CMS and USMS. You probably encouraged many swimmers to attend nationals who would have otherwise not come - that's great. By the way Paul, you STILL owe me a case of beer for those two 50 back bets.....double or nothing again??
