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
As for the 2009 nationals bids....as is being discussed on a couple of other threads we need to find a way to make those meets more fun, in great locations and most importantly a profit maker for the hosts...
Paul,
you travel more than most in USMS and have GREAT contacts at many of the really wonderful facilities along the way. Why don't you be one of the USMS ambassadors who seeks out these really neat venues and persuade the locals where you are swimming to put in a nationals bid?
This is one grass-roots effort where you may really be able to make a difference and get some instant gratification rather than trying to fight through organizational red tape to get changes in rules which, we all appreciate, can raise the blood pressure.
I'll lean on you about this at the ASU meet....
As for the 2009 nationals bids....as is being discussed on a couple of other threads we need to find a way to make those meets more fun, in great locations and most importantly a profit maker for the hosts...
Paul,
you travel more than most in USMS and have GREAT contacts at many of the really wonderful facilities along the way. Why don't you be one of the USMS ambassadors who seeks out these really neat venues and persuade the locals where you are swimming to put in a nationals bid?
This is one grass-roots effort where you may really be able to make a difference and get some instant gratification rather than trying to fight through organizational red tape to get changes in rules which, we all appreciate, can raise the blood pressure.
I'll lean on you about this at the ASU meet....
