I've been watching and waiting for information regarding Long Course Nationals - particularly hotel information. I finally found a link on the Spire site to USMS hotels. As I began the process, I found this curious statement:
This is a "Stay to Play" tournament.
All teams are required to reserve a hotel room block through
Traveling Teams in order to participate in the tournament.
Does this mean that individuals are prohibited from booking their own rooms? Due to the lack of information, many of us have already booked rooms that meet our personal needs. Can someone clarify?
I totally agree. If I encounter slow to fast 200 seeding in nationals again, I'm going to stop entering 200s.
I think there is a Yogi Berra-ism here. If everybody stops entering 200s, then we can definitely seed them by age group...
I think there is a Yogi Berra-ism here. If everybody stops entering 200s, then we can definitely seed them by age group...
I want to race my competitors in championships. If accomplishing that means I will have to train for different events, so be it. At least my race experiences will be much more positive that way. It's very frustrating to be an older swimmer, yet fast for my age group and end up in lane 1 or 8, racing super fast people half my age and feeling not at all competent. I get out of the water feeling super frustrated and having no idea how I placed.
Some people have asked about the 200s. Sorry, I should have said the "rest of" the seeding decisions will be announced soon:
Psych sheets are now posted:
www.usms.org/.../
Meet Roster: www.usms.org/.../meetentrants.php
Team Roster: www.usms.org/.../teamroster.php
Swimmer Lookup: www.usms.org/.../lookup.php
Because of the 10-lane course, we will NOT drop the sixth event. All events 200 meters and up will be deck seeded, and all 50s and 100s will be preseeded. All seeding decisions will be announced soon. Heat sheets for preseeded events, as well as the estimated timeline, are expected to be posted on or about July 24.
Empty lanes can dampen competitive conditions and we'd like to avoid that when possible. Although we cannot offer any refunds, if you are absolutely certain you will not be swimming certain events (particularly the preseeded 50s and 100s), please let us know and you'll be removed from those events to cut down on empty lanes and provide for more competitive heats. If your travel plans prohibit you from swimming certain events please be considerate and let us know before we seed the meet. Please note that once we take you out of an event, we cannot put you back in. Scratches will be accepted through July 17. Please email scratches or entry errors to championship@usms.org.
Thanks,
Jeff Roddin
USMS Championship Committee
A list of all previous LC Nationals, with attendance, can be found in Appendix F of the USMS rule book:
www.usms.org/.../appf.pdf
Recent meets and attendance:
2007, The Woodlands, Texas: 911
2008, Mt. Hood, Oregon: 1,131
2009, Indianapolis, Indiana: 1,150
2010, San Juan, Puerto Rico: 632
2011, Auburn, Alabama: 688
2012, Omaha, Nebraska: 1,257
2013, Mission Viejo, California: 1,393
2014, College Park, Maryland: 1,024
2015, Geneva, Ohio: 968
968 is the attendance figure at the moment, but isn't yet the final official count (refund deadline is Monday, so it could drop). If we go with 968, the historical average from 1990-2015 (excluding 2006 because of Worlds) is 1001. For stats lovers, the median is 1010, high is 1393, low is 632 and avg deviation is 157. So this meet's attendance is just about on par with what is to be expected for Summer Nationals and is nowhere from being an outlier (such as Auburn in 2011 with 688).
As an aside, Spring Nationals stats are as follows (also from 1990-2015): 1728 average, 1778 median, 2249 high, 1103 low, 234 average deviation.
Jeff
Whatever happened to "That Guy?" He would have posted and said there are about 1111001000 swimmers entered in the meet (in binary).:joker:
Hey, I've been wondering the same thing for a long time! I think I'll send him a PM. The forums just aren't the same without That Guy! :sad:
Edit: I just sent him an e-mail.
I totally agree. If I encounter slow to fast 200 seeding in nationals again, I'm going to stop entering 200s.
While this doesn't really apply to me because I'm so old that I'll be in the first heat anyway, I can definitely support the notion that the 200's need to be seeded by age group first, to avoid empty lanes. Everyone deserves the lane they should swim in! Also in the name of the best competition, we should all be racing against our real competition. At an advanced age, I have no interest in swimming with slow 30-somethings. It is meaningless to me!
It's nice to hear there are others out there share my sentiments. I have enough trouble getting decent times at local meets since there's mixed men and women. One large male sandbagger that swims next to me and has a real 50 time several seconds faster than me and my race is pretty much over after the dive. I go to nationals to see what I can do under more ideal conditions.
Well, at least you know you won't have to swim with those men!
While this doesn't really apply to me because I'm so old that I'll be in the first heat anyway, I can definitely support the notion that the 200's need to be seeded by age group first, to avoid empty lanes. Everyone deserves the lane they should swim in! Also in the name of the best competition, we should all be racing against our real competition. At an advanced age, I have no interest in swimming with slow 30-somethings. It is meaningless to me!
It's nice to hear there are others out there share my sentiments. I have enough trouble getting decent times at local meets since there's mixed men and women. One large male sandbagger that swims next to me and has a real 50 time several seconds faster than me and my race is pretty much over after the dive. I go to nationals to see what I can do under more ideal conditions.
sometimes it's not even about getting the middle lane. In my case, swimming the 200 free against my own age group allows me to say I raced an Olympic gold medalist!
sometimes it's not even about getting the middle lane. In my case, swimming the 200 free against my own age group allows me to say I raced an Olympic gold medalist!
That would really be awesome!
Well, at least you know you won't have to swim with those men!
That came out sounding like I can't stand swimming with guys, which isn't true at all. My regular lane mate is male and I have a blast swimming mixed relays. But seriously...when a 200 pound man dives in next to me on a fifty, it's like swimming in the ocean! Not too conducive to a PR.
