Haven't seen much about Atlanta next May. Seems like a National LMSC challenge would get a few swimmers motivated. Seems there ought to be a way to break up teams so that they are roughly comparable. What about a heavyweight division (100+ swimmers), light heavyweight division (75-100) middleweight (50-75) and lightweight (under 50)?
It's possible that 2011 SCY Nationals could be larger than 2010. I have heard some swimmers who do not want to buy a tech suit say that they won't go to nationals until tech suits are gone. They want to compete on an even field. Most of us who enjoy nationals will go regardless of the suit rules. I'm eager to see the new suits with the approved material. I'm really curious about the differences.
I think that the tech suit thing will be is a very minor factor in nationals attendance. If you look in appendix F in the Rule Book (on the history of USMS), there is a listing of the attendance of nationals by year on pp 160-161. There is pretty much variability from year to year (2006: 1276; 2007: 1456; 2008 1865; 2009 1582).
(And you can answer the following trivia questions: When/where was the first nationals? How many were there?)
Anyway, I think the location of nationals (and possibly the quality of the facility, as well as cost) is the overriding factor determining attendance.
When they received the bid, I thought Atlanta might be a popular one: cheap destination, awesome facility. I would think AZ will probably do well -- the meet in Tempe was well attended in 2003. But who knows?
What I do know is that if I just loved the tech suits but didn't like the nationals city, or if the timing was bad, I very much doubt the swimwear rule would sway me. I'd just taper for Zones and wear the suit there.
It's possible that 2011 SCY Nationals could be larger than 2010. I have heard some swimmers who do not want to buy a tech suit say that they won't go to nationals until tech suits are gone. They want to compete on an even field. Most of us who enjoy nationals will go regardless of the suit rules. I'm eager to see the new suits with the approved material. I'm really curious about the differences.
I think that the tech suit thing will be is a very minor factor in nationals attendance. If you look in appendix F in the Rule Book (on the history of USMS), there is a listing of the attendance of nationals by year on pp 160-161. There is pretty much variability from year to year (2006: 1276; 2007: 1456; 2008 1865; 2009 1582).
(And you can answer the following trivia questions: When/where was the first nationals? How many were there?)
Anyway, I think the location of nationals (and possibly the quality of the facility, as well as cost) is the overriding factor determining attendance.
When they received the bid, I thought Atlanta might be a popular one: cheap destination, awesome facility. I would think AZ will probably do well -- the meet in Tempe was well attended in 2003. But who knows?
What I do know is that if I just loved the tech suits but didn't like the nationals city, or if the timing was bad, I very much doubt the swimwear rule would sway me. I'd just taper for Zones and wear the suit there.
