distance swimmers shorted

Having never been a meet director, I'm not sure I can really offer anything useful, but here goes: Currently, I think USMS national meets allow people to enter 3 races without qualifying for any of them. Basically, unqualified swimmers ARE allowed to enter, but to save time, their entries are limited in number. Could we make similar compromises with distance swimmers, like the 2 suggestions below? 1: Allow distance swimmers who want to enter both the 1000 and 1650, to only enter two other races (for a total of 4, rather than 6 races). If time restrictions force everyone else to drop their 6th race, then people in both 1000 & 1650 would have to drop to 3 total races. At least in my own case, I would gladly give up my right to do 3 shorter races (which I'm not really that good at anyway) if it meant I could do one more distance race. That's really what distance people train for. -AND/OR- 2: Make a second set of faster qualifying times for the 1000 and 1650 for people who want to do both. If you only want to do one or the other, then only the standard QTs apply to you. If you want to do both, however, you would have to meet the faster QTs for both races. The faster set of QTs for both races probably wouldn’t need to be super-fast, just fast enough to keep the meet moving along. I guess numbers would have to be crunched to determine the faster QTs, though. Devil’s in the details. In the case of both suggestions above, the 1000 and 1650 would preferably no longer be on the same day; it doesn’t make much sense to swim both if you have to do them so close together. I know, b/c I’ve done that at YMCA masters nationals. But if they have to be on the same day, then so be it; at least you would be able to do both races. And anyone doing both races would probably be equally tired when the 2nd race rolled around. I also think it would be a good idea to rescind the “swim 3 races without qualifying for them” rule for any race 400 and longer. After all, why be inclusive of un-qualified swimmers at the expense of deserving qualified distance swimmers, including the super-fast distance swimmers like Laurie Hug, Ethan Saulnier, Chris Derks, et al? Non-qualifiers can still enter any 3 of the shorter races if they like. This would allow USMS to remain inclusive of its slowest members while no longer excluding its distance people. Any thoughts? I’d be excited to hear if this is feasible from people who have actually been meet directors.

Having never been a meet director, I'm not sure I can really offer anything useful, but here goes: Currently, I think USMS national meets allow people to enter 3 races without qualifying for any of them. Basically, unqualified swimmers ARE allowed to enter, but to save time, their entries are limited in number. Could we make similar compromises with distance swimmers, like the 2 suggestions below? 1: Allow distance swimmers who want to enter both the 1000 and 1650, to only enter two other races (for a total of 4, rather than 6 races). If time restrictions force everyone else to drop their 6th race, then people in both 1000 & 1650 would have to drop to 3 total races. At least in my own case, I would gladly give up my right to do 3 shorter races (which I'm not really that good at anyway) if it meant I could do one more distance race. That's really what distance people train for. -AND/OR- 2: Make a second set of faster qualifying times for the 1000 and 1650 for people who want to do both. If you only want to do one or the other, then only the standard QTs apply to you. If you want to do both, however, you would have to meet the faster QTs for both races. The faster set of QTs for both races probably wouldn’t need to be super-fast, just fast enough to keep the meet moving along. I guess numbers would have to be crunched to determine the faster QTs, though. Devil’s in the details. In the case of both suggestions above, the 1000 and 1650 would preferably no longer be on the same day; it doesn’t make much sense to swim both if you have to do them so close together. I know, b/c I’ve done that at YMCA masters nationals. But if they have to be on the same day, then so be it; at least you would be able to do both races. And anyone doing both races would probably be equally tired when the 2nd race rolled around. I also think it would be a good idea to rescind the “swim 3 races without qualifying for them” rule for any race 400 and longer. After all, why be inclusive of un-qualified swimmers at the expense of deserving qualified distance swimmers, including the super-fast distance swimmers like Laurie Hug, Ethan Saulnier, Chris Derks, et al? Non-qualifiers can still enter any 3 of the shorter races if they like. This would allow USMS to remain inclusive of its slowest members while no longer excluding its distance people. Any thoughts? I’d be excited to hear if this is feasible from people who have actually been meet directors.