• Replies 6 replies
  • Subscribers 15 subscribers
  • Views 1715 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related

2026 Summer Nationals event cap

09433

I’m curious how others feel about the event caps at Summer Nationals this year.

I understand the need to keep the meet timeline manageable. My concern isn’t that events were capped—it’s that there didn’t seem to be any advance information about which events were likely to fill or how the capacities would be managed.

I was surprised to find that all of the events over 100 meters were already closed while shorter events remained open. Without knowing that ahead of time, it felt like registration became a race to click “submit” rather than an opportunity to register for the events you’ve trained all season to swim.

In my opinion, USMS should have published estimated event capacities or identified events that were likely to fill quickly before registration opened. I think having that information would allow swimmers to make more informed decisions and would make the registration process feel more transparent.

I’m interested to hear what others think and whether anyone else was caught off guard by the event caps.

Parents

  • I was caught completely off guard by the caps. The caps should have been communicated clearly when registration opened. I entered the 800 free shortly after registration opened and did not get in, put my name on the waitlist and just learned that I didn't get in when Psych sheets came out. At that point I asked if I could enter the 50 fly as a substitute and was told "no." There are 2 heats of the 800 free in my age group. The real competition is not in the pool for this event, but who can register the fastest. I understand needing to manage a timeline, I hope there will be more transparent, early communication about caps in the future.

Reply

  • I was caught completely off guard by the caps. The caps should have been communicated clearly when registration opened. I entered the 800 free shortly after registration opened and did not get in, put my name on the waitlist and just learned that I didn't get in when Psych sheets came out. At that point I asked if I could enter the 50 fly as a substitute and was told "no." There are 2 heats of the 800 free in my age group. The real competition is not in the pool for this event, but who can register the fastest. I understand needing to manage a timeline, I hope there will be more transparent, early communication about caps in the future.

Children
No Data