Had a great time at the Atlanta Short Course Nationals event, however what was up with the lack of pool etiquette in the warm-up/down pools? I have competed in triathlons and open water swims and this event by far was the most dangerous swim experience in terms of etiquette. I spoke with many swimmers who felt the same.
In the warm-up/warm-down pools, I had someone actually jump in as aggressively as they could on top of me, pushing me under. The one time I tried to warm-up in the competition pool during a break, I was pushed in the head and told "Move" & when it was completely crowded with no where to go, I had someone pull my leg, push on my lower back, push me under the water and then they actually swam over top of me to get in front, which was pointless as everyone was touching? Really? I was also very disappointed to hear that younger swimmers were not only crowding the 65+ designated lanes, but were actually just as dangerous and argumentative with the older swimmers. Really?
Perhaps we need a revised USMS Pool etiquette for Nationals and similar type events in addition to the following,
www.usms.org/.../pooletiquette
Jim....we will have 13 lanes for warm-up.
My read having been to the last few Nationals on warmup space only:
WAY, way better than Atlanta or Austin,
not as good as Clovis
Paul, it would still be good to have other options for people if they are available.
Well I didn't say it wasn't good pool, I just ranked it at the bottom of the pools where I have attended SCY nationals...
1 - turbulence created a lot of small buddles that did not clear very fast creating visibility issues
2 - Bulkhead was a real challenge for me, especially on the course near the scoreboard...
I'm with you on both points about Atlanta. It was a fine enough pool, but I just think there are better pools.
As for Mesa, I think -- PAUL SMITH, please clarify -- that we'll be swimming widthwise, which means real walls on both courses and no bulkheads. I much prefer racing into walls and not bulkheads, part of the reason why I ranked Clovis over Atlanta, even though I swam faster in Atlanta on a same event basis.
...Another problem that I had in Austin and Atlanta is with breathing. Betsy, Mesa is outdoors, so that won't be a problem. You'll have other issues to deal with -- SUN! -- but the air should be good.
My read having been to the last few Nationals on warmup space only:
WAY, way better than Atlanta or Austin,
not as good as Clovis
Paul, it would still be good to have other options for people if they are available.As far as the pool itself for racing:
better than Clovis,
much better than Atlanta,
and I can't be objective about Austin, a sentimental favorite of mine
As for Mesa, I think -- PAUL SMITH, please clarify -- that we'll be swimming widthwise, which means real walls on both courses and no bulkheads. I much prefer racing into walls and not bulkheads, part of the reason why I ranked Clovis over Atlanta, even though I swam faster in Atlanta on a same event basis.
You are correct PWB...2 x 9 lane courses running from east to west with the bulkhead separating the two. Which means flo-over gutters at the start/turn ends, one full open lane on the outside of each course, the "outside" lanes that will be next to the bulkhead have a lane line and about a 2' of a gap before the bulkhead (which is "flo-threw" design so will absorb a lot of the turbulence. Very fast set-up.
As far as the pool itself for racing:
better than Clovis,
much better than Atlanta,
and I can't be objective about Austin, a sentimental favorite of mine
Better than Clovis? Wow, guess I need to get my butt in the pool and starting training as I loved the tank at Clovis. Last 3 SCY Nats are for me:
1 - Clovis - loved this tank
2 - Austin - UT - enough said
3 - Atlanta - just didn't care for the pool at all.
Better than Clovis? Wow, guess I need to get my butt in the pool and starting training as I loved the tank at Clovis. Last 3 SCY Nats are for me:
Atlanta - just didn't care for the pool at all.
I suppose the pool was only good enough for the Olympics but not for masters Nationals. :confused:
I suppose the pool was only good enough for the Olympics but not for masters Nationals. :confused:
Not sure what you are trying to say here but it sure looks like you are saying that his opinion is wrong, which is impossible because it's his opinion. :confused: :confused: :confused:
"Lost" would be one way of describing the last year...proud to say we've been overseeing a masters team that went from 6 to over 150 (and our women just broke the national record in the LCM 200 medley with a 2:03!) and age group program of over 300 (95% of team finished season with best times, 16 sectional qualifiers, 1 JO cut and 1 national cut)...priorities have changed but I'm "making my comeback" as I have a coney dog bet with a 16 year old in the 50 free coming up in 3 weeks!
Doesn't sound like "Lost" to me. Sounds more like "Empire Building" - in a good sense.
I'm sure you weren't totally "out of it", anyway. :chug:
I don't understand why people have a problem with the GA Tech pool. I have swam in that pool. The pool is fast. The pool is deep, with the over flow gutters. The water is cool and very clear. The lighting for the facility is great.
I just don't get why people think it isn't a good pool.
Maybe it was just some of the technical difficulties that were occasionally presented (hard to hear starter and start "horn") and a wee bit of crowding?
I had a good time; thought it was great. But that's me - some claim I'm "easy".
I don't understand why people have a problem with the GA Tech pool. I have swam in that pool. The pool is fast. The pool is deep, with the over flow gutters. The water is cool and very clear. The lighting for the facility is great.
I just don't get why people think it isn't a good pool.
Well I didn't say it wasn't good pool, I just ranked it at the bottom of the pools where I have attended SCY nationals. Trust me, I've swam in pools that I would call 'not good'. But it seemed, at least for me, that it lost some of it's lustre when set up SCY. The issues I had:
1 - turbulence created a lot of small buddles that did not clear very fast creating visibility issues
2 - Bulkhead was a real challenge for me, especially on the course near the scoreboard. On that course I missed all three flip turns (50 and both in the 100). Sure others didn't have problems but this is my opinion, so I can only put it in the frame of reference of me. I have swam at quite a few pools with bulkheads and this one gave me the most trouble by a huge margin.
But hey, that's life. Would I swim there again? Heck yeah. Is it, in my opinion, the 3rd best pool for SCY Nats in my experience? Yup.
