Nationals - 2014 & 2015 dates

women's 400 IM free inside. I hope that clarify things. Not really. Is the women's 400 IM free a new event? Does this mean that women don't have to pay for swimming the 400 IM inside? Please clarify this for the men.

Thanks for posting the order of events Jeff! Since the 1500 and 800 are on separate days, does that mean swimmers can do both events like in Mission Viejo? It's really unfortunate for us distance swimmers to have to sacrifice one of our events at nationals when there are really only 3 events (400, 800 and 1500) in which we're competitive!

That option will be highly unlikely only having a single 8 lane competition course and a meet expected to be even larger than Mission Viejo. In Mission Viejo the finish time on Wednesday (1500 day) was 10:10pm and the finish time on Friday (800 day) was 7:22pm. Those session lengths are very difficult to staff while also not really being good conditions for competition for the swimmers. 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.

Thanks for posting the order of events Jeff! Since the 1500 and 800 are on separate days, does that mean swimmers can do both events like in Mission Viejo? It's really unfortunate for us distance swimmers to have to sacrifice one of our events at nationals when there are really only 3 events (400, 800 and 1500) in which we're competitive! That option will be highly unlikely only having a single 8 lane competition course and a meet expected to be even larger than Mission Viejo. In Mission Viejo the finish time on Wednesday (1500 day) was 10:10pm and the finish time on Friday (800 day) was 7:22pm. Those session lengths are very difficult to staff while also not really being good conditions for competition for the swimmers. Jeff

Thanx Jay. That makes good sense using different events. I did not even think of that. Now I need to get healthy to try for Q times.!

I very much like the fact that USMS is so inclusive, so I'd really not like to see that change. But on the other hand, as I have seen mentioned somewhere, nationals is a once-a-year event in which people have a chance to swim against strong competition. Perhaps still allowing 3 events and 4 relays without NQTs but require NQTs for both the 800 and 1500 should be considered if it allows for distance specialists to enter both events? I am guessing it is challenging to make changes to the USMS rulebook? People without NQTs can probably find events other than nationals at which to compete in those two distance events. I really don't want to make the meet too exclusive, but as a distance swimmer, it really does stink to have one of three events (1500, 800 and 400 are the only "distance" events) eliminated. I didn't realize that finding bidders to accommodate nationals was such a challenge. That certainly would rule out imposing additional requirements on bidders.

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

I don't have a solution,but I don't think both the 1500 and 800 should be NQT only events.If one prefers distance free events,but is not able to make NQTs ,should that person have none of there favorite events to swim?

The way I look at it is, if you swim the 1500, you've automatically got an 800 swim thrown in for good measure! Really I've never thought it was a huge deal when swimmers need to pick one or the other of the distance events (but I can understand why some would). The scheduling of all the events means lots of people have to sacrifice one event in favor of another due to being back-to-back, etc. I guess the difference is they still have the option to swim both. They just might choose not to due to scheduling.

People without NQTs can probably find events other than nationals at which to compete in those two distance events. . Some parts of the country are very active and have many Masters meets. Others, are not. If I am going to have to travel, pay for hotels, etc., I would much rather do so at a National meet, than some other meet that would have me swimming 6 events in 3 hours. I agree that it stinks that distance swimmers have to choose between one event or the other, but for some of us, the Nationals events are the only option to compete.