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
There are many reasons for going to nationals. All the nationals will have great competitive facilities and high standards for the swim meet. Any swimmer there will have a chance to do his best.
You can watch great swims from the oldest age groups to watching Olympians battle it out in the younger age groups.
You will generally compete against swimmers of your own speed and age group. That will bring out the juices to swim harder.
You can meet other swimmers and make friends as we all share a common interest.
Most of the Championship Committee is there, so you can tell them in person what makes a good meet and what should be changed. (also most of the executive committee attends so when you are through battering the championship committee you can hit up the executive committee members - be sure to be a gold medal sponsor).
You are absolutely right, Michael. I have been to 14 Nationals since 1991, and at only one of them did my team have a remote chance of bringing home a banner. And as a matter of fact, the one time we did win anything, I didn't personally contribute a single point! And I had a blast at Worlds last year (thanks again, Michael, for such a good time!) and they didn't even keep team scores.
I have never had a bad time at Nationals, and I have nearly always gone faster than I expected, for just the reasons Michael points out. This is an important point: it really is NOT all about winning. It's about COMPETING.
Meg
There are many reasons for going to nationals. All the nationals will have great competitive facilities and high standards for the swim meet. Any swimmer there will have a chance to do his best.
You can watch great swims from the oldest age groups to watching Olympians battle it out in the younger age groups.
You will generally compete against swimmers of your own speed and age group. That will bring out the juices to swim harder.
You can meet other swimmers and make friends as we all share a common interest.
Most of the Championship Committee is there, so you can tell them in person what makes a good meet and what should be changed. (also most of the executive committee attends so when you are through battering the championship committee you can hit up the executive committee members - be sure to be a gold medal sponsor).
You are absolutely right, Michael. I have been to 14 Nationals since 1991, and at only one of them did my team have a remote chance of bringing home a banner. And as a matter of fact, the one time we did win anything, I didn't personally contribute a single point! And I had a blast at Worlds last year (thanks again, Michael, for such a good time!) and they didn't even keep team scores.
I have never had a bad time at Nationals, and I have nearly always gone faster than I expected, for just the reasons Michael points out. This is an important point: it really is NOT all about winning. It's about COMPETING.
Meg
