https://community.usms.org/events/f/usms-national-championship-international-events/26390/how-many-swimmers-go-to-nationals-who-don-t-meet-the-nqtsHi everyone. I&#39;m a slow fitness swimmer who hasn&#39;t competed since I was 14, but I&#39;d like to start participating just because it looks fun. I understand that anyone *can* swim up to 3 events at Nationals, but do non-qualifiers take advantage of that? Whaten-USTelligent Community 12https://community.usms.org/thread/278445?ContentTypeID=1Sat, 22 Nov 2014 10:54:11 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:e4308cc6-38f9-4131-99bd-f83d7ac351cborca1946We can find JERKS in all lines of work &amp; play. Most of us are very supportive of others!! Dismiss the jerk &amp; return to meets &amp; Nats. I have always been &quot;big&quot; hence my nickname of ORCA cuz I swim pretty fast for a big guy. That name was dropped on me about 17 years ago at a Illinois state meet by a team mate. Ihave been to 4 ants cover my career &amp; been pleased with results even if i did not meet Q times. It&#39;s the swims &amp; PEOPLE.<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/278402?ContentTypeID=1Wed, 20 Aug 2014 10:39:41 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:365e1f2f-655e-482a-8422-1c1457bf1774TRYM_SwimmerI entered my three events without making the qualifying times. I came home with 2 medals. I had a great time, and would do it again! Good for you! Nats has always been a great time, no matter what shape I&#39;m in. This time I had one good swim, one OK one, and two awful ones. But the atmosphere and great people made it well worthwhile.<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/278380?ContentTypeID=1Wed, 20 Aug 2014 07:54:06 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:bda77456-f795-4f95-a740-ec64cdca04d7swimsharkI entered my three events without making the qualifying times. I came home with 2 medals. I had a great time, and would do it again! Congratulations!<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/278363?ContentTypeID=1Wed, 20 Aug 2014 07:34:49 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:f0e5f4be-d581-4529-9964-5847a9a555acpshepardI entered my three events without making the qualifying times. I came home with 2 medals. I had a great time, and would do it again!<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/278417?ContentTypeID=1Wed, 20 Aug 2014 07:12:45 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:f6e8cea0-1036-46ba-83b5-7fcc30994d07Elaine KrugmanI entered my three events without making the qualifying times. I came home with 2 medals. I had a great time, and would do it again! Exactly the same for me! :D<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/278158?ContentTypeID=1Sat, 16 Aug 2014 07:00:54 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:cf424817-393e-4dcc-9e26-cb5b7c891f3aFormer Memberaztimm I am so sorry you had that experience. I can only imagine how that must have made you feel. I hope you try Nationals again some time. My biggest hangup when it comes to Nationals is a different kind of fear. I am basically a team of one, and so I don&#39;t know ANYbody, unless my husband accompanies me. This makes it hard for me to be &quot;up&quot; for meets, unlike when you have a group of people who are all rooting for you, talking trash &amp; getting you pumped up. Friends made on FB and the Forum are nice, but it&#39;s not the same as people from home, who train with you, and want to see you do well (and swim relays with you). We all have our hang ups I guess. But I&#39;m really sorry you had to run into the biggest jerk in USMS. I can relate. I&#39;ve only recently started swimming USMS Meets, I&#39;ll probably start swimming nationals next spring. I&#39;m almost always a team of one, unless we&#39;re hosting a meet. Fortunately I&#39;m one of the fastest breaststrokers in SPMS (Steve West is a freak of nature; I&#39;ll never be THAT fast). There are some big rowdy teams at a lot of these meets, which is great for them and the sport, but my motivation is to shut them up. I don&#39;t REALLY hold any malice towards the big teams, they&#39;re all very nice people, but it helps when I&#39;m on the starting block. Just an idea for the next time you&#39;re at one of those meets all alone.<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/278139?ContentTypeID=1Fri, 15 Aug 2014 07:03:56 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:2c68198c-a5a4-4393-867f-1ec1df89d844beirelandNice! Give So Cal a BIG :smooch: for me! It was interesting to see the range of competitors at Worlds in Montreal. There were many swimmers who were not close to placing in their AGs but who went to Montreal for the experience. It seemed to me, and I did not crunch any numbers that there were a much larger percentage of the meet who were swimming for the experience, not hoping to place, than at most USMS Nationals. I don&#39;t know why that is but it was good to see.<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/278105?ContentTypeID=1Sat, 19 Jul 2014 10:34:09 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:8dbee0c1-d84e-4bd6-bc13-08cc701a76faElaine KrugmanI live near Ventura now. Grew up near Palm Springs. Nice! Give So Cal a BIG :smooch: for me!<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/278086?ContentTypeID=1Sat, 19 Jul 2014 03:44:38 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:78848b97-975d-40ca-b24e-e230192ea33cMichael BlattI live near Ventura now. Grew up near Palm Springs.<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/278057?ContentTypeID=1Tue, 15 Jul 2014 05:47:32 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:8f081f2a-b93d-4f70-b940-7646dd87303fElaine KrugmanGlad to see this mentioned. One of the (in my mind) best aspects about almost all levels of competitive swimming is that everyone in a heat can be happy with their swim. My forum picture is from the end of a 100 free where the person in the lane next to me went over 3 seconds faster than I did. But I was so happy with the time it didn&#39;t matter at all. EXACTLY! I will be swimming my worst event at Worlds and Nationals (200 fly), because I love it. I&#39;m good with endurance fly (2,000 rather than 200), but I am very slow. (I&#39;m seeded 33rd of 34 at Worlds, just to give you an idea.) I&#39;ve been working hard on it, though, so I just hope to improve my time. It&#39;s a great feeling when that happens, even when you get slaughtered by the competition! :agree: This past Saturday, a gal beat me out for a gold medal in the 3K at the Georgia Games by about three minutes. I couldn&#39;t have been happier with that silver, because I took 11 minutes off my time from 2012 when I swam an open water race for the first time. I&#39;ve only done a few open water races since then; but, my sighting and endurance has gotten much better. I&#39;m still on a cloud after winning silver! :D Where in So Cal are you from? I was born and raised in Long Beach and lived in San Diego for most of my life. My family is still in L.B. and L.A.<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/278038?ContentTypeID=1Tue, 15 Jul 2014 04:53:43 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:cb857dc0-aef6-4899-b019-34052c447cabMichael BlattHonestly, this is one of the things that I always loved about swimming. Even in High School, when someone was feeling down because they didn&#39;t win, or came in last, my first question was always, &quot;But how was your time?&quot; Often the answer was that it was a best time, or close to it. What more can you ask for? You just swam faster than you ever have before! &quot;Doing well&quot; is relative to the individual, and in swimming, you get to experience the &quot;team&quot; atmosphere, while still achieving personal goals. Glad to see this mentioned. One of the (in my mind) best aspects about almost all levels of competitive swimming is that everyone in a heat can be happy with their swim. My forum picture is from the end of a 100 free where the person in the lane next to me went over 3 seconds faster than I did. But I was so happy with the time it didn&#39;t matter at all.<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/278023?ContentTypeID=1Wed, 25 Jun 2014 10:23:06 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:0fad38dd-ef62-4291-be0e-77eaccc154d7jpetykTo WIN is not the norm!!! To be in the water is what most of us are in this sport for. OK- doing well makes you feel better,but in the end we are just happier when we work out in the pool. QUOTE] Honestly, this is one of the things that I always loved about swimming. Even in High School, when someone was feeling down because they didn&#39;t win, or came in last, my first question was always, &quot;But how was your time?&quot; Often the answer was that it was a best time, or close to it. What more can you ask for? You just swam faster than you ever have before! &quot;Doing well&quot; is relative to the individual, and in swimming, you get to experience the &quot;team&quot; atmosphere, while still achieving personal goals. USMS Nationals enforce this ideal by allowing EVERYONE to be able to participate in some capacity. Everybody has the opportunity to get out of housework because the are &quot;on taper&quot; :D and everyone gets to experience the electricity of a large scale meet. It&#39;s really quite cool. Watching the really fast swimmers race is cool....but my favorites are the people that have a story. The ones competing for the first time ever, those overcoming some major hurdle, and my biggest inspiration...the elderly that are still at it!! I aspire to still be swimming into my 90&#39;s, God willing I live that long. :angel:<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/277994?ContentTypeID=1Tue, 24 Jun 2014 06:29:34 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:471dd0ea-5230-46d2-8d7f-6df2df27ad8dorca1946To WIN is not the norm!!! To be in the water is what most of us are in this sport for. OK- doing well makes you feel better,but in the end we are just happier when we work out in the pool. I just returned from a 20 mile bike ride in the 90 degree temp with high humidity. The pool sounds pretty good right now !!!<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/277977?ContentTypeID=1Wed, 11 Jun 2014 02:46:29 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:bf4a465a-5476-4e6d-815c-b52e003c575apshepardI signed up for the Nationals at University of Maryland, and also didn&#39;t make the qualifying times. I signed up for the three events that I was most interested in swimming that met my needs for the time period Thursday/Friday, 8/14-8/15. I don&#39;t wish to be there the entire 5 days. I have never been to a National Meet, and being chairperson for Marketing of Delaware Valley USMS swimming, I thought it would be a fun meet to try out. You should sign up if you are interested in going, and not worry about the qualifying times. I only did age group swimming from ages 8-12, and started back in Masters about 5 years ago after a 32 year vacation from competitive swimming. I am not sure if there is an exact number or people who go that don&#39;t make the qualifying times, it may vary from year to year.<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/277750?ContentTypeID=1Wed, 07 May 2014 15:09:33 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:13aa60dd-8552-4198-83ca-6896f74dc8c7Former MemberKRA GOOD FOR YOU !!!!! What you have done for yourself is a really good thing. And the step up to try Nationals is to be applauded !! This is why wining is a part of our sport but not the only thing that brings new - old into it for starters or to return to competition. I got a man like ypou at 335 to start swimming years ago &amp; he does the 2000 fly at state Not fast but he gives it all he has. Thanks for your kind words. During this process, I&#39;ve had a couple people in my life who, like you, have provided crucial support and encouragement. It&#39;s not easy to be the one nudging someone you care about back toward a life of fitness, but it&#39;s an incredible gift. Santa Clara was fantastic, although I did hold up my 200 Back heat by about 20 seconds. I doubt anyone cared; my seed time was legit and I popped out of the pool as soon as the lactic acid allowed. I nailed my taper, dropping over a minute to 12:03 in the 1,000 Free. At this rate, I may be able to compete with some of these awesome, inspiring guys in my age group as early as August Nationals. Even if I&#39;m not quite there by that time, I still feel like I belong and I still feel like USMS swimmers are overwhelmingly accepting of differences in competence -- it&#39;s a real stength of USMS and it&#39;s a big reason why I&#39;ve been able to keep hammering away at this audacious project.<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/277725?ContentTypeID=1Wed, 07 May 2014 12:58:07 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:d069c56f-60da-47a6-86cf-5c1ee025c097knelsonWhile the rules do allow it, and some people say that no one will say anything, what actually happens at USMS nationals is a whole different story. Obviously this guy was a big time jerk, but do you think maybe it&#39;s time to get over it? From my perspective this is very atypical.<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/277708?ContentTypeID=1Tue, 06 May 2014 09:51:19 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:b4263c0b-0880-40de-ad92-89ab0db7af13Elaine KrugmanThere should probably be a surcharge added to the USMS dues for people as grumpy as him. :applaud: Yeah, that guy was as grumpy as your avatar! :afraid:<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/277571?ContentTypeID=1Tue, 06 May 2014 09:24:46 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:42bcb43a-9a61-4444-954d-33d436df7b8eFormer MemberI went in the warm-up/down pool, and another guy asked how I did. After I told him my time, he said, &quot;it is people like you who make these meets last so long.&quot; There should probably be a surcharge added to the USMS dues for people as grumpy as him.<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/277513?ContentTypeID=1Tue, 06 May 2014 08:37:57 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:a9125ef8-e96a-4017-94d5-c2b7f4e0346ajroddinI&#39;m possibly going to Nationals but I&#39;ve looked at previous years results and QTs and I&#39;m nowhere near that fast. Please remember you don&#39;t need to meet QTs to swim up to 3 events (except for the 1500m free - you must meet the QT to swim that event). You don&#39;t have to be near the QT - pick three events and come and have fun!<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/277486?ContentTypeID=1Tue, 06 May 2014 06:23:03 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:077b5725-d45e-4a7a-bed3-3e19ce31b3abSwimMannI&#39;m possibly going to Nationals but I&#39;ve looked at previous years results and QTs and I&#39;m nowhere near that fast.<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/277696?ContentTypeID=1Tue, 06 May 2014 05:48:19 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:1f7e703f-4927-4fa6-89e1-64b9e1fc2365Celestialaztimm I am so sorry you had that experience. I can only imagine how that must have made you feel. I hope you try Nationals again some time. My biggest hangup when it comes to Nationals is a different kind of fear. I am basically a team of one, and so I don&#39;t know ANYbody, unless my husband accompanies me. This makes it hard for me to be &quot;up&quot; for meets, unlike when you have a group of people who are all rooting for you, talking trash &amp; getting you pumped up. Friends made on FB and the Forum are nice, but it&#39;s not the same as people from home, who train with you, and want to see you do well (and swim relays with you). We all have our hang ups I guess. But I&#39;m really sorry you had to run into the biggest jerk in USMS.<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/277557?ContentTypeID=1Tue, 06 May 2014 02:02:14 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:15cd01f9-f9f3-4dee-81c3-3e19a0c1acbaElaine KrugmanUnfortunately, you ran into the wrong guy. :badday: Please don&#39;t judge the Nationals experience based on a comment made by a loser like that. I have competed in several Nationals, and I didn&#39;t make NQT&#39;s in most of them. My experiences have been quite the opposite of yours, and I found the other competitors to be very positive and welcoming. It&#39;s too bad you didn&#39;t give it another try when it was in Arizona. I hope you will reconsider going to a Nationals in the future, because it&#39;s an awesome experience! :agree:<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/277536?ContentTypeID=1Tue, 06 May 2014 01:27:38 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:d6078e38-8564-4f0a-b1a1-8ee14b85573caztimmI&#39;ve only swum at 1 USMS nationals, I think it was back in 2003 (when it was at ASU in Tempe, AZ). The only thing I remember about the meet was that after my 2nd event, I went in the warm-up/down pool, and another guy asked how I did. After I told him my time, he said, &quot;it is people like you who make these meets last so long.&quot; Mind you, along with swimming, since my team was hosting the meet I had been helping with timing and other volunteer activities, while still working. I scratched my 3rd event (the 500 free) the next day, and didn&#39;t swim in any USMS meets for several years after that. When nationals returned to AZ a few years ago, I purposely planned a trip out of town so I wouldn&#39;t have any reason to go near it. I do occasionally swim in some mostly smaller meets, as well as some zone meets, and I enjoy the positive attitude and energy I encounter at open water events. While the rules do allow it, and some people say that no one will say anything, what actually happens at USMS nationals is a whole different story.<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/277458?ContentTypeID=1Sat, 26 Apr 2014 05:21:51 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:353a20bb-72ae-4b8f-b957-11cdd91e7cd4orca1946KRA GOOD FOR YOU !!!!! What you have done for yourself is a really good thing. And the step up to try Nationals is to be applauded !! This is why winning is a part of our sport but not the only thing that brings new - old into it for starters or to return to competition. I got a man like you at 335 lbs. to start swimming years ago &amp; he does the 200 fly at state Not fast but he gives it all he has.<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://community.usms.org/thread/277440?ContentTypeID=1Fri, 18 Apr 2014 08:14:14 GMT3187ac58-ba85-4314-b79a-c45cd885e09a:8c81dfb1-3328-4684-96e5-99db16045fafThat Guy#airquotes? #seemedlikelegitusageofquotationmarkstoconveydialoguetome (#whatdoyouthink, #thatguy?) #imsoconfusedrightnow #ihopemycarrierpigeonknowshowtosendsmokesignals #ifiholdmyamradiouptomyrotaryphonecanimakeareservationonthenexttransatlanticzeppelin #somethingsomethingtelegram<div style="clear:both;"></div>