first of all, congrats to the meet directors and all the volunteers on a job well done. so organized and efficient!! very impressive. the only thing i wish someone could explain to me is why the usms champ. committee changed the team scoring from large, medium and small team to clumping everyone in the same category. seems extremely unfair to have what i call "real teams" competing against state mega teams. there is no possibility for "real teams" to ever come close to competing against them. if you are going to give team awards at the end of the meet, is there any way you can do it fairly? our team is extremely proud to have gotten as many team members as we did to go to natls. (most of them for the first time), but unfortunately they were very disillusioned (as was i) with the idea that we would be competing against state teams. as one of the coaches i didn't have an explanation. even though we were very proud of our 7th place finish in men's division, and our 12th place in combined, we were only one of a few "real teams" in the top ten. would appreciate responses. maybe even someone from the champ.committee could explain how they felt this scoring system would be more fair to the majority of swimmers. then i can pass it along to my teammates.. i don't want them to be so disillusioned that they lose interest in attending any future natls. thanks
I'm all for breaking up the super teams, even though it was great swimming with a bunch of people from all over Colorado at two nationals.
I would understand if a team championship meant more money, sponsorship or prestige for a team, but if the host teams always win the meet, and if coaches of super teams are actively recruiting people to join them just to get a banner that probably will never be hung on a wall or a rafter, it seems pointless.
Bottom line, I think nationals would have a different flavor if everyone had to represent a team within 100 miles of their home address. The meet would be pure, and you wouldn't have all the gossip on the deck regarding team scoring. The fact that the issue affected swim4life's opinion of his/her first nationals shows what the main goal of the meet is for most people.
Between this and the way nationals/worlds are seeded, it's obvious a major overhaul needs to be done.
I'm all for breaking up the super teams, even though it was great swimming with a bunch of people from all over Colorado at two nationals.
I would understand if a team championship meant more money, sponsorship or prestige for a team, but if the host teams always win the meet, and if coaches of super teams are actively recruiting people to join them just to get a banner that probably will never be hung on a wall or a rafter, it seems pointless.
Bottom line, I think nationals would have a different flavor if everyone had to represent a team within 100 miles of their home address. The meet would be pure, and you wouldn't have all the gossip on the deck regarding team scoring. The fact that the issue affected swim4life's opinion of his/her first nationals shows what the main goal of the meet is for most people.
Between this and the way nationals/worlds are seeded, it's obvious a major overhaul needs to be done.
