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.
Paul, rumor is that the Freedom Ctr is going to be knocking out the deep end wall and adding a 25 yard pool. If they do this, they can host Nationals. I would love to see that. The masters coach there was co-meet director at KY Nationals several years ago.
Awesome!
I saw that Portland only had 6 warm down lanes. If that's the criteria, then U of Md should suffice. It has very ample spectator seating and huge locker rooms. I guess availability is the issue. But perhaps the college/USA teams could swim early in the am like they did in Austin?
Actually, having been to both, I think that UMD would be a slightly better choice from a over all facility point of view. Not sure what other renovations were planned but the deck space at UMD is at least 40% more than at Freedome center and the locker room space is much better. But hey, it's all conjecture at this point but I hope that PV does try to put together a bid.
I plan on talking at the next board meeting about trying to see if it would be possible.
Paul, rumor is that the Freedom Ctr is going to be knocking out the deep end wall and adding a 24 yard pool. If they do this, they can host Nationals. I would love to see that. The masters coach there was co-meet director at KY Nationals several years ago.
For those of us in the Intermountain West, where is the Freedom Center and what type of facility is it?
*Indoor/Outdoor
*50M x 25Y or 50M x 25M
*Pool owner
*etc.
If it is in the Baltimore/DC area, you could either fly into BWI or National from almost anywhere in the US. From here it sounds like an interesting venue for a Nationals...
I doubt it. If warmup space is an issue, what are the chances there would actually be a place available to put up a temporary pool? I'd say very slim.
They did exactly this when SCY nationals were held at Chapel Hill in the early 90s. There is an indoor 50m pool that was divided into separate 25y courses for men/women, and an outdoor temp pool was used for warmup/warmdown.
For those of us in the Intermountain West, where is the Freedom Center and what type of facility is it?
*Indoor/Outdoor
*50M x 25Y or 50M x 25M
*Pool owner
*etc.
If it is in the Baltimore/DC area, you could either fly into BWI or National from almost anywhere in the US. From here it sounds like an interesting venue for a Nationals...
It's in Manassas, Va. Very convient to Dulles and about 30 minutes from Reagan National.
www.freedom-center.com/aqua_learn_to_swim.shtm
It's a very nice 50m indoor facility with movable bulkheads that can be set up 50m, 25m or 25y. Deck space is a little tight. Locker rooms are OK. It could be a venue for LCM Nats.
Paul
It's in Manassas, Va. Very convient to Dulles and about 30 minutes from Reagan National.
www.freedom-center.com/aqua_learn_to_swim.shtm
It's a very nice 50m indoor facility with movable bulkheads that can be set up 50m, 25m or 25y. Deck space is a little tight. Locker rooms are OK. It could be a venue for LCM Nats.
Paul
WOW, that looks like a nice facility! Is there a second pool anywhere for warmups?
That would be a nice place for Nationals...
WOW, that looks like a nice facility! Is there a second pool anywhere for warmups?
That would be a nice place for Nationals...
No, that is what Swimshark mentioned. They are looking into adding a smaller pool.
I look at the DC area facilities and the three that I come back to seem to just capable of hosting LCM Nats but fall short of SCY Nats. The problem is one capacity. I have noticed that LCM Nats tend to run in the 1100-1200 range and SCY are in the 1800-2000 range. The three facilities might be able to handle the lower number but I do not think they have a prayer of handling the higher number. Austin was tough and that was a much larger facility than the three here. Warmups were a nightmare, even with 10 lanes in the diving well.
Would love to see an SCY Nats hosted in the DC area. The only site that I know that even comes close to being able to handle that would be UMD's beautiful natatorium. 50m indoor woth moveable bulkheads. But spectator and warmup/down space are issues. Not to mention even GETTING that facility. George Mason's facility is about the same in terms of amount of water availble but isn't quite as large in terms of deck space or other areas.
BP, want to talk about that sometime? I would LOVE to be involved in trying to put a bid together. Wanna grab a beer or three and talk it over?
Paul, rumor is that the Freedom Ctr is going to be knocking out the deep end wall and adding a 24 yard pool. If they do this, they can host Nationals. I would love to see that. The masters coach there was co-meet director at KY Nationals several years ago.
It sounds like there are pools out there but the catch is warm-up/warm-down areas, locker rooms, and seating. Would it make sense to rent/own one of those temporary pools (the semi-rigid above ground ones) for this purpose? Also, for changing areas how about renting some large tents and setting them up for this purpose?
Just ideas I am throwing out there. I reckon there are solutions to the problems some facilities face in hosting Nationals. But like other obstacles they can be overcome with some creativity and effort.
I like the ideas being posted, this should help get the creative juices flowing when it comes to future Nationals.
Would it make sense to rent/own one of those temporary pools (the semi-rigid above ground ones) for this purpose?
I doubt it. If warmup space is an issue, what are the chances there would actually be a place available to put up a temporary pool? I'd say very slim.
