I've asked one of the meet directors if the ledge would be available for the meet in Greensboro and received the answer. No. Certainly not what I expected. Last year in San Antonio, after having them available on Wed and distance day on Thurs they were removed. I spoke with the Colorado Timing rep that was at the meet who was also disappointed and had hoped they would be available this year. Has anyone ever seen/used the ledge at a masters, high school or college meet ? I have seen them at the elite Meets but no where else. When the Nationals roll around it will be almost 2 years since they were approved. I wonder how long it will be before we are able to use them ?
I've asked one of the meet directors if the ledge would be available for the meet in Greensboro and received the answer. No. Certainly not what I expected. Last year in San Antonio, after having them available on Wed and distance day on Thurs they were removed. I spoke with the Colorado Timing rep that was at the meet who was also disappointed and had hoped they would be available this year. Has anyone ever seen/used the ledge at a masters, high school or college meet ? I have seen them at the elite Meets but no where else. When the Nationals roll around it will be almost 2 years since they were approved. I wonder how long it will be before we are able to use them ?
The backstroke ledges were at the facility in San Antonio but the officials made the decision to not use them because they weren't prepared for them. This was discussed at convention this past fall in the Officials Committee and Championship Committee meetings. Here is a cut and paste from Championship Committee minutes:
F. Fin Blocks/Backstroke Ledges
Fin Blocks were new to us in 2012 (Omaha) and were at both 2015 Nationals. The backstroke ledges were available at San Antonio, but were not used for competition. Jeff said that from now on, the Officials Committee has agreed to allow them at Nationals if the host facility has them available. It was also suggested they have the ledges available in warmup sprint lanes. Kim suggested that we have a promotional video included in our electronic newsletters to the meet participants to show how to use the ledges. It was also suggested that tips for using the ledges should included with the Coach Certification clinics. Jillian will take this to the Coaches Committee.
thanks for the reply, jrodin ... i can't remember if the Colorado Timing Rep said that they had supplied them for San Antonio meet but that was the impression I came away with ... but maybe the school district pool we used in San Antonio had purchased them, which would be very impressive !
Some folks got to try the ledges in warm-ups at San Antonio, but I did not get a chance. Sure would like to try them sometime before they are offered during a meet.
Greensboro Aquatic Center does not have enough for both courses so that's why we chose not to have them at Spring Nationals.That is a bummer. What's the cost for 10 more so we could use them? If we had a successful GoFundMe campaign to raise money for wedges at Greensboro, could we use them?
Or if Colorado timing could supply the extra ten and gain the exposure for the product. I think they are one of USMS partners. They go for $650 a lane.So, assume they need two spare, we'd need 12 x $650 = $7,800. There were 427 unique individuals entered in the 100 backstroke back in 2012, so that's about $18 per backstroker to fund ledges. It would seem to me that, either GAC or USMS might create a win-win by running a funding campaign ... if GAC runs it, they could offset part of the capital costs to further enhance their facility. If USMS runs the funding campaign, they could have a set of ledges to be transported to future Nationals sites.
Or if Colorado timing could supply the extra ten and gain the exposure for the product. I think they are one of USMS partners. They go for $650 a lane.
So, assume they need two spare, we'd need 12 x $650 = $7,800. There were 427 unique individuals entered in the 100 backstroke back in 2012, so that's about $18 per backstroker to fund ledges. It would seem to me that, either GAC or USMS might create a win-win by running a funding campaign ... if GAC runs it, they could offset part of the capital costs to further enhance their facility. If USMS runs the funding campaign, they could have a set of ledges to be transported to future Nationals sites.
Great idea. I would contribute.
