I've not done any analysis to see if left coasters & westerners were disproportionately under-represented on the Auburn psych sheets, but wondering if the SPMA/Southwest Zone meet (www.clubassistant.com/.../meet_information.cfm might garner a bigger turnout than Nationals?
Who's going to Mission Viejo?
I like the idea because it offers a lot of options to swimmers who enjoy swimming meets.
However, it also makes an easier choice for those who might have attended Mesa or Auburn Nationals to stay closer to home and race - rather than spend the time & expense to travel.
Options are good. I think having a Zone Championship of sufficiently high caliber (good facility, well organized, large-ish meet) is a great idea, and something that every zone should strive for. Sometimes people cannot attend nationals and zones can be a good alternative. Some people might like to attend both, especially if one (usually zones, I imagine) is within driving distance.
I think zones should be scheduled so that, if someone DOES want to go to both, s/he can. One week apart may not work for that so well. The two meets should ideally complement each other, not compete with one another.
As far as which meet "should" be scheduled first, I can see an argument for having nationals first: if you go to both, then that would probably be your primary meet and you'd taper for it. Then you just extend it for zones. Going the other way might not appeal to as many people. People who are going to only one meet probably won't care much.
Of course, very often the scheduling is dependent on the facility and is beyond the control of the meet host. I would hope that this would be the reason whenever zones & nationals are one-week apart, not due to a conscious choice on the part of the zones meet host.
Finally, I really like this story about a good championship meet following nationals.
I like the idea because it offers a lot of options to swimmers who enjoy swimming meets.
However, it also makes an easier choice for those who might have attended Mesa or Auburn Nationals to stay closer to home and race - rather than spend the time & expense to travel.
Options are good. I think having a Zone Championship of sufficiently high caliber (good facility, well organized, large-ish meet) is a great idea, and something that every zone should strive for. Sometimes people cannot attend nationals and zones can be a good alternative. Some people might like to attend both, especially if one (usually zones, I imagine) is within driving distance.
I think zones should be scheduled so that, if someone DOES want to go to both, s/he can. One week apart may not work for that so well. The two meets should ideally complement each other, not compete with one another.
As far as which meet "should" be scheduled first, I can see an argument for having nationals first: if you go to both, then that would probably be your primary meet and you'd taper for it. Then you just extend it for zones. Going the other way might not appeal to as many people. People who are going to only one meet probably won't care much.
Of course, very often the scheduling is dependent on the facility and is beyond the control of the meet host. I would hope that this would be the reason whenever zones & nationals are one-week apart, not due to a conscious choice on the part of the zones meet host.
Finally, I really like this story about a good championship meet following nationals.
