Nationals - 2014 & 2015 dates

Thanks for the reply Jeff. I completely understand about the staffing. And also the conditions for competition; yes, swimming at 10pm really wasn't ideal, but it's better than not swimming at all! Really the 1500 and 800 are the only events in which I'm somewhat competitive. The 400 is marginal and the 200 is tough. Eliminating one of those as an option really stinks. Perhaps some sort of contingency could be made like in Mission Viejo, only more strict, for the distance events? Such as having NQTs for both events? Or perhaps staffing late for those events should be considered when awarding nationals to bidders? Having the ability to swim both events at nationals really makes all the difference for someone like me. It was discussed to limit participation in the 800 and 1500 to only those who make NQTs in both in order to allow swimmers to enter both, however, that is not permitted in the USMS rulebook so the idea was dismissed. It is very difficult finding bidders, let alone finding bidders with 10 lane pools, multiple competition courses, excess staffing resources, etc. For this particular Nationals we are fortunate the host is able to accommodate a 5-day format. Masters Nationals is unique in its ability to accommodate all swimmers (anybody may swim up to 3 events plus 4 relays without meeting qual times). It is unfortunate for some Nationals that swimmers may not swim both distance events, but on the other hand if the meet were more exclusive there would be many others who wouldn't get to swim any events at all. Reasonable people may disagree on the all-inclusive policy but that is the present system. Jeff

Thanks for the reply Jeff. I completely understand about the staffing. And also the conditions for competition; yes, swimming at 10pm really wasn't ideal, but it's better than not swimming at all! Really the 1500 and 800 are the only events in which I'm somewhat competitive. The 400 is marginal and the 200 is tough. Eliminating one of those as an option really stinks. Perhaps some sort of contingency could be made like in Mission Viejo, only more strict, for the distance events? Such as having NQTs for both events? Or perhaps staffing late for those events should be considered when awarding nationals to bidders? Having the ability to swim both events at nationals really makes all the difference for someone like me. It was discussed to limit participation in the 800 and 1500 to only those who make NQTs in both in order to allow swimmers to enter both, however, that is not permitted in the USMS rulebook so the idea was dismissed. It is very difficult finding bidders, let alone finding bidders with 10 lane pools, multiple competition courses, excess staffing resources, etc. For this particular Nationals we are fortunate the host is able to accommodate a 5-day format. Masters Nationals is unique in its ability to accommodate all swimmers (anybody may swim up to 3 events plus 4 relays without meeting qual times). It is unfortunate for some Nationals that swimmers may not swim both distance events, but on the other hand if the meet were more exclusive there would be many others who wouldn't get to swim any events at all. Reasonable people may disagree on the all-inclusive policy but that is the present system. Jeff