I am not usually one to complain about swim meets, since I appreciate all the hard work that goes in to putting one on.... And I fully understand that this is the largest LCM Nationals in the history of Masters Swimming....
But really...
Not being able to swim against your competition in the 200's???
This is not a local meet. This is the Nationals. The ONLY time I get to swim against my own age group.
There needs to be a better solution.
There might be a number of band aids like this solution. The larger issue it would appear is the size of meets. FINA has solved their championship overload by running 24/7 if they need to. If I am correct, this Nationals selected a 5 day format, unprecedented except for the really day at Indianapolis, before knowing how big it would be. If it had been a traditional 4 day format the problems would be much exacerbated. USMS needs to be considering how to manage many more people. Given the number of swimmers that make the Nationals a one time special event, Santa Clara could be very large. Coming up with on the spot solutions isn't going to continue to work. There is something to be said for tougher qualifying standards if that is what it takes. AMswimmer is just recognizing this problem from a different perspective and s/he is correct. Not swimming with your competition is not in the spirit of a true National Championship.
There might be a number of band aids like this solution. The larger issue it would appear is the size of meets. FINA has solved their championship overload by running 24/7 if they need to. If I am correct, this Nationals selected a 5 day format, unprecedented except for the really day at Indianapolis, before knowing how big it would be. If it had been a traditional 4 day format the problems would be much exacerbated. USMS needs to be considering how to manage many more people. Given the number of swimmers that make the Nationals a one time special event, Santa Clara could be very large. Coming up with on the spot solutions isn't going to continue to work. There is something to be said for tougher qualifying standards if that is what it takes. AMswimmer is just recognizing this problem from a different perspective and s/he is correct. Not swimming with your competition is not in the spirit of a true National Championship.
