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
Scott & Karen....I understand that there are many clubs that are very close-nit...I've also seen LOTS of clubs that have a very large and diverse group of swimmers and many don't even know folks beyond the practice they attend and more specifically the lane or two they train in...my argument comes from the folks judging regional teams as not have very similar types of relationships and in many cases far more so.
As for the argument that a group that gets in the pool day in and day out having more of a relationship than a regional team preparing for nationals that wold depend on the club. For example Sun Devil masters has 200+ swimmers, I train with them 2-3x a week...there will be maybe 6 from that team going to nationals...for more interest in that club to train for La Jolla and other open water events...however when you look at myself, Liz Hobbs, Brad Herring, Greg Rhodenbaugh, Sam Perry, Henry Clark, Rowdy Gaines, Scott Shake, Monica Bailey, Laura Winslow, etc. etc. we all have the same goals, mindset and focus and although we don't train together often we are a "club".
So...bottom line is lets not judge to much in this our different approaches to training, clubs, competing and focus on what this thread is hopefully about finding a simple solution that creates a competitive situation for all of us with as much fairness as we can.
PS: Karen....I'm actually fine with having 2 divisions if thats what the majority of folks would consider the best approach....never said I was "against" it but do think if we went the most "simpe" route it would be one division w/ S,M, L....but I love a good debate regardless!
Scott & Karen....I understand that there are many clubs that are very close-nit...I've also seen LOTS of clubs that have a very large and diverse group of swimmers and many don't even know folks beyond the practice they attend and more specifically the lane or two they train in...my argument comes from the folks judging regional teams as not have very similar types of relationships and in many cases far more so.
As for the argument that a group that gets in the pool day in and day out having more of a relationship than a regional team preparing for nationals that wold depend on the club. For example Sun Devil masters has 200+ swimmers, I train with them 2-3x a week...there will be maybe 6 from that team going to nationals...for more interest in that club to train for La Jolla and other open water events...however when you look at myself, Liz Hobbs, Brad Herring, Greg Rhodenbaugh, Sam Perry, Henry Clark, Rowdy Gaines, Scott Shake, Monica Bailey, Laura Winslow, etc. etc. we all have the same goals, mindset and focus and although we don't train together often we are a "club".
So...bottom line is lets not judge to much in this our different approaches to training, clubs, competing and focus on what this thread is hopefully about finding a simple solution that creates a competitive situation for all of us with as much fairness as we can.
PS: Karen....I'm actually fine with having 2 divisions if thats what the majority of folks would consider the best approach....never said I was "against" it but do think if we went the most "simpe" route it would be one division w/ S,M, L....but I love a good debate regardless!
