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.
The spirit of a National Championship may be diminished, in your opinion, when the focus is on participation, however, the spirit of USMS is inclusiveness. USMS is all about not being an elitist organization or they would not invite fitness swimmers to participate. If I had sensed USMS was not inclusive, I would not have joined. And, my guess is there are many swimmers out there who feel the same way.
Being an inclusive organization doesn't mean USMS has to include everyone in its national championship. It is not remotely elitist to have time standards for national championships or to be forced to eliminate NQT events because of attendance. It's nationals, not a run of the mill meet.
I find myself in agreement with amswimmer. I decidedly prefer to swim against my competition at nationals and, as she notes, it is the only meet of the year at which this happens. And everyone knows I agree with Matysekj's comments! I don't want to be stuck in an outside lane catching the waves of the 20 somethings in a sprint event. Unless substantial (hours+) time is saved, I think the 200s should be seeded by age group.
As for Jeff's point about the 400/800/1500 swimmers, I would be curious how they feel. The age group time spreads in those events is likely much greater than in the sprints, pacing is much more important, and waves from surrounding swimmers less of an issue (in fact, there may be drafting). So perhaps in those circumstances it is more desirable to swim against those with comparable times? I can see either side. But those events take so disproportionately much longer than the sprints, I'm sure there's no choice but to mix age groups.
The spirit of a National Championship may be diminished, in your opinion, when the focus is on participation, however, the spirit of USMS is inclusiveness. USMS is all about not being an elitist organization or they would not invite fitness swimmers to participate. If I had sensed USMS was not inclusive, I would not have joined. And, my guess is there are many swimmers out there who feel the same way.
Being an inclusive organization doesn't mean USMS has to include everyone in its national championship. It is not remotely elitist to have time standards for national championships or to be forced to eliminate NQT events because of attendance. It's nationals, not a run of the mill meet.
I find myself in agreement with amswimmer. I decidedly prefer to swim against my competition at nationals and, as she notes, it is the only meet of the year at which this happens. And everyone knows I agree with Matysekj's comments! I don't want to be stuck in an outside lane catching the waves of the 20 somethings in a sprint event. Unless substantial (hours+) time is saved, I think the 200s should be seeded by age group.
As for Jeff's point about the 400/800/1500 swimmers, I would be curious how they feel. The age group time spreads in those events is likely much greater than in the sprints, pacing is much more important, and waves from surrounding swimmers less of an issue (in fact, there may be drafting). So perhaps in those circumstances it is more desirable to swim against those with comparable times? I can see either side. But those events take so disproportionately much longer than the sprints, I'm sure there's no choice but to mix age groups.
