At risk of "beating a dead horse"....at least in respect to broaching this topic again! I had a number of conversations at convention with people who would like to see USMS move to a 3rd Championship meet in the fall for short course meters.
There are some great Zone meets going on...when you have 600+ going to Long Beach or New England why not up the ante a bit?
Thoughts?
On the West Coast there is a big SCM meet every yr in LA in the winter, attended by a lot of people from all over the country.
I think a big Meet in the East Coast, like the one on the West coast, would take care of all the people in the US. The cost could be kept down and you wouldn't have so far to travel. The meet could be centralized or bid on so it
wouldn't be that hard for people to attend and the cost of the meet could be
kept on the lower end. Just my 2cents
Dec 3-5, 2010: 509 USMS members competed in the SPMA SCM Championships in Long Beach
Dec 10-12, 2010: 532 USMS members competed in the NE SCM Championships in Boston
Since I doubt there was much (any?) overlap, that's over 1000 people competing in two SCM meets, one on the West Coast and one on the East Coast.
And these numbers were low (either the economy or the suit change or whatever); in 2009, there were 636 and 602 members, respectively at these two meets for a total of 1238 members.
I've always heard good things about the SPMA meet, and I can attest that the NE meet is at a very nice facility, with fast swimming, and extremely well run. It also has "extra" relays (the 400s) that nationals does not, no NQTs and a higher entry limit.
In terms of finding a meet/venue that is conducive to fast swimming, I don't think that an official SCM National Championship is going to improve on either one of these.
Oh, I guess the event winners in these meets aren't called "national champions." I forgot.
The people in the middle of the country (and maybe the NW and SE corners) have kind of far to travel to these meets; that's a pretty legitimate gripe, because unlike nationals, these meets aren't moving around.
On the West Coast there is a big SCM meet every yr in LA in the winter, attended by a lot of people from all over the country.
I think a big Meet in the East Coast, like the one on the West coast, would take care of all the people in the US. The cost could be kept down and you wouldn't have so far to travel. The meet could be centralized or bid on so it
wouldn't be that hard for people to attend and the cost of the meet could be
kept on the lower end. Just my 2cents
Dec 3-5, 2010: 509 USMS members competed in the SPMA SCM Championships in Long Beach
Dec 10-12, 2010: 532 USMS members competed in the NE SCM Championships in Boston
Since I doubt there was much (any?) overlap, that's over 1000 people competing in two SCM meets, one on the West Coast and one on the East Coast.
And these numbers were low (either the economy or the suit change or whatever); in 2009, there were 636 and 602 members, respectively at these two meets for a total of 1238 members.
I've always heard good things about the SPMA meet, and I can attest that the NE meet is at a very nice facility, with fast swimming, and extremely well run. It also has "extra" relays (the 400s) that nationals does not, no NQTs and a higher entry limit.
In terms of finding a meet/venue that is conducive to fast swimming, I don't think that an official SCM National Championship is going to improve on either one of these.
Oh, I guess the event winners in these meets aren't called "national champions." I forgot.
The people in the middle of the country (and maybe the NW and SE corners) have kind of far to travel to these meets; that's a pretty legitimate gripe, because unlike nationals, these meets aren't moving around.
