Right now there is a lot of talk about bids for Nationals and proposed rules changes on where Nationals can be held.
Why not discuss good places to have Nationals in the future?
For fun, what pool would you suggest as a great place for Nationals? This may help prime the pump with more pools that can/will bid on future events.
I will start things off with my submission, University of Minnesota for LCM.
Why?
I am from MN and have swum in it many times during college and in Masters. It is a great facility and is fast. Plus I have family in the Twin Cities and know my way around.
It is indoors and as anybody from the Midwest knows, the weather can get unpredictable in August.
They did a great job in 1999 for LCM, very well-run meet.
An open water swim could be run at Lake Hariett or one of the other metro lakes.
Airport is a hub for NWA (soon to be Delta) and is accessable from any major metro area.
Location is in Central US, meaning flights from anywhere in the US won't take all day.
Pool is on the U of M campus with lots of places to eat, hotels, and parking.
There have been many meets run at this facility since it opened and I think that the hosts would do an excellent job. I don't know why they have not submitted a bid but would love to vote for it if they ever did.
Just my opinion, go ahead and share yours.
Isn't there a decent facility on Long Island? I haven't been there, but recall they hosted Div I NCAAs a couple years ago.
Like most of the other pools out here it is just a plain old 50m. Not enough space for 2 25-yard courses and warmup/warmdown.
I think the Championship Committee has a list of the "desired" locations (the best pools in USA) for our USMS National Championship. The USMS Championship Committee then annually mail bid packets to them, and hopes at least a few return them.
For any facility that has not hosted, I think USMS Championship Committee should assign a mentor to faciliate more bids and to support efforts by LMSC to get these facilities to bid.
I'm sure Univ MN has not bid recently since they may not have someone willing to be the meet director and organize a USMS Nationals. Have a great location is only the first part of hosting nationals, you need a dedicated local organzing committee with some resources to even consider bidding.
We have a great facility within our LMSC (Missouri Valley has Univ Missoui-Columbia with a new 8-lane LCM Plus diving pool complex), but getting the facility and LMSC to combine toward a bid has been a challenge.
Anthony Thompson
Missouri Valley LMSC
swimtotoswim@msn.com
We should have places beating down the door to host our events.
Out of curiosity, my understanding is that it is a heck of a lot of work by a heck of a lot of people, mostly volunteers, to put on a nationals; outside of altruism what is the motivation to be beating down anyone's door to sign up for that amount of work?
Nassau County Aquatic Center is the pool in Long Island, NY. I have swam there before. It is a really good pool, and it would be a good site for nationals.
Nassau County Aquatic Center is the pool in Long Island, NY. I have swam there before. It is a really good pool, and it would be a good site for nationals.
This is nice pool. 10 lanes- 50 meters long with 2 bulkheads for 2-25 yard courses and a separate diving well....very nice.
Isn't there a decent facility on Long Island? I haven't been there, but recall they hosted Div I NCAAs a couple years ago.
That's the Nassau County Aquatics Center. It's a great facilty. We have several meets there every year, but I'm not sure if it's big enough for Nationals We had Zones there a few years ago and it was a strain. The locker rooms are relatively small and there's not much space for a warm-up pool.
I will start things off with my submission, University of Minnesota for LCM.
They did a great job in 1999 for LCM, very well-run meet.
An open water swim could be run at Lake Hariett or one of the other metro lakes.
The best part of 1999 Nationals was the open water swim after the meet. Right after the 1500 ended, about 60 of us hopped into a bus and rode to Stockholm, Wisconsin. We then swam two miles across the Mississippi River to Lake City, Minnesota.
By the way, that would be a great place to have a meet (University of Missouri, Columbia, MO). It would be in the central US and indoors I presume.
It's a great pool - almost a carbon copy of the Minnesota pool. And it is indoors (a necessity in the Midwest in either May or August ). But judging from the comments I've read on these forums about Clovis, a lot of people probably wouldn't like the location. There is no direct airport access to Columbia, MO. Columbia is halfway between St. Louis and Kansas City. You'd have to fly into one of those cities and then drive 120 miles to Columbia. If people are complaining about getting to Fresno, they'd really be complaining about Columbia.
Anna Lea
So far, based upon what I have read, here are some facilities that may be worth studying.
Nassau County Aquatics Center (Long Island, NY)
Irvine (Irvine, CA)
University of Maryland (College Park, MD)
University of Missouri (Columbia, MO)
Let's call these guys the "Contenders" for now. I am sure there are more but this represents a good start.
