2019 Summer Nationals NQT's

The qualifying times for USMS Summer Nationals in Mission Viejo, August 7-11, 2019, have been posted on the meet landing page: www.usms.org/.../2019-summer-national-championships Jim Clemmons Championship Committee Chair
Parents
  • Hi Mr. Clemmons, I am curious as to the reason why a swimmer cannot enter both the 1500 and 800 freestyle events in the summer nationals. Being a long-distance specialist and having to choose between the two events in a national championship is disappointing. I have qualified for every freestyle event from the 100 to the 1500. Is this same rule applied in the spring nationals whereby a swimmer can only swim the 1650 or the 1000, but not both? I have Canadian friends swimming in their nationals meet this weekend and they are allowed to swim both in a 3-day period. Thanks for your inquiry, Scott. It's a difficult decision which isn't arrived at easily, that's for sure. Due to anticipated participation numbers and the number of lanes available for competition, the Championship Committee and host look closely at the estimated timelines and decide whether or not to limit the two longer events. In Mission Viejo's case, we're limited to 8 competition lanes and, historically, the area has drawn high participation numbers. Both 2005 (~1100 entries) and 2013 (~1400) had swimmers competing into the late evening. We not only need to concern ourselves with how the timeline impacts the swimmers but need to consider the impact on officials, volunteers and emergency personnel who are helping to run the meet. The same decision process is also applied for Spring Nationals with two 8 lane courses usually (but not always) limiting the two distance events. 2018 Indy was such a case where we had to limit, however, 2019 Mesa and 2017 Riverside allowed swimmers to enter both events (1650 & 1000) since they each had 9 lane courses. Next year in San Antonio we'll have two 10 lane courses, so swimming both is a high likelihood, but no guarantee.
Reply
  • Hi Mr. Clemmons, I am curious as to the reason why a swimmer cannot enter both the 1500 and 800 freestyle events in the summer nationals. Being a long-distance specialist and having to choose between the two events in a national championship is disappointing. I have qualified for every freestyle event from the 100 to the 1500. Is this same rule applied in the spring nationals whereby a swimmer can only swim the 1650 or the 1000, but not both? I have Canadian friends swimming in their nationals meet this weekend and they are allowed to swim both in a 3-day period. Thanks for your inquiry, Scott. It's a difficult decision which isn't arrived at easily, that's for sure. Due to anticipated participation numbers and the number of lanes available for competition, the Championship Committee and host look closely at the estimated timelines and decide whether or not to limit the two longer events. In Mission Viejo's case, we're limited to 8 competition lanes and, historically, the area has drawn high participation numbers. Both 2005 (~1100 entries) and 2013 (~1400) had swimmers competing into the late evening. We not only need to concern ourselves with how the timeline impacts the swimmers but need to consider the impact on officials, volunteers and emergency personnel who are helping to run the meet. The same decision process is also applied for Spring Nationals with two 8 lane courses usually (but not always) limiting the two distance events. 2018 Indy was such a case where we had to limit, however, 2019 Mesa and 2017 Riverside allowed swimmers to enter both events (1650 & 1000) since they each had 9 lane courses. Next year in San Antonio we'll have two 10 lane courses, so swimming both is a high likelihood, but no guarantee.
Children
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