SCM Championships

I think that is a great idea. Let's call it Zones:rofl: I was thinking: The 2012 2nd Annual East Valley Invite, hosted by none other than MAC!!!

I voted no because I thought that 3 national championships was too many to ask of the dedicated that go to all the big meets (which is not me, by the way). If it's not you then why are you making the decision for those who do?

First, I applaud chowmi and Midas for recognizing the mostly volunteer work required behind the scenes to allow us all to get up and race. If we were to run a SCM Nationals late in the calendar year, keep in mind it would likely impact existing large SCM meets (New England, Long Beach, etc.) and those existing hosts probably wouldn’t be thrilled with this idea. However, that by itself is obviously not a reason to rule out the idea. If the suggestion is to “promote” one of these meets into Nationals, there are a lot of considerations to take into account. Many of the responsibilities to host would already be in place whether it is a local/LMSC/Zone meet or Nationals (still need awards, timers, facility rental, etc.). However, many of the “extras” required at Nationals drives up meet expenses and substantially increases the number of volunteers needed to plan and support the meet. For instance, Nationals requires specific medical support (ambulance onsite with EMTs and ACLS for the entire meet, including warm ups). Figure around $5k for this unless you are fortunate to get this donated (most Nationals hosts are not so fortunate). The USMS National Office provides a lot of services to Nationals hosts – would they be expected to do the same thing at this SCM Nationals? If so, their time is not free! Some of their services include the SWIMMER magazine entry form and promotional article, entry processing, meet program, arranging for USMS sponsors to name just a few. Or would the host be doing all of this? How about the daily videos with Rob Butcher, Rowdy, Misty, etc. - if it is Nationals would that be expected? Are you going to sell merchandise and utilize an event logo? Can this host coordinate room blocks at multiple hotels? This is a profit sharing opportunity for the host, but it also requires more volunteer time than most local meets have available. Similarly, many Nationals hosts arrange for a shuttle. Would this meet have one to the hotels? Most events at Nationals are seeded by age group. Zone meets are typically seeded by time. How would this meet be seeded? If by age group you definitely need two courses. And you can count on a much longer day than the same number of swimmers at Zones seeded by time. Nationals typically has more stringent requirements for national level officials. Would the host be willing to fly them in and house them like they are at Nationals or would it be ok to just use local officials? How about hospitality – would this host be required to support Gold Medal Sponsors (this could be a profit item but you would still need the volunteers for staffing and planning)? How about on-deck coaching – would you have to have this because it is Nationals? The requirement for Safety Marshals is also higher for Nationals than all other meets, which again equals more volunteers. Would this host have the means to travel to a couple or three conventions (leading up to and afterwards) and/or travel to the SCM Nationals prior to this one to learn behind the scenes what goes on at Nationals since it is different than local meets? I guess my point is you can’t just take a large SCM meet and “promote” it to Nationals. Lastly, my concern would be finding eligible & willing hosts. They’re not exactly knocking on our door to host Spring and Summer Nationals… Jeff

Thanks for explaining those details, Jeff. When I voted "yes", I didn't stop to think about all that goes into hosting a Nationals meet! :afraid:

Most of us do not think of ALL THE WORK THAT GOES INTO THE MEET BEFORE RACE DAY! Thanx to all those that set & run meets for us :applaud::applaud:

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I think that is a great idea. Let's call it Zones:rofl: In spite of that Jeff and although its a small sampling....1300+ views, 46 responses and 67% in favor of it. Sure its a lot of work, sure there is risk...little to USMS...but ultimately I believe that the majority of competitive swimmers want an opportunity to compete in a national championship in each of the 3 courses we offer here in the US (no sacrificing of SCY). Not sure what will happen but there is interest and I think we should continue to pursue this. What I'd like is if anyone knows the directors of the larger zone meets that they be contacted and see what their interest would be in bidding on being the host of a SCM Nationals.

I vote yes. the US doesn't seem to have 2 x 25 SCM bulkhead pools like they do in Canada. If you have to do, host the meet at two different pools close by. For instance, in Boston, you could have the meet at BU and Harvard. FINA Worlds in Sweden had this set up.

For instance, in Boston, you could have the meet at BU and Harvard. FINA Worlds in Sweden had this set up. I think that was one of the most common complaints I heard about Worlds. You would really find that setup BETTER than the meet they already run in Boston? Men at one pool, women at another, switching on different days? (Not sure where they'd run mixed relays; at Worlds I think they had a day exclusively for relays.) Seems like a lot of trouble just to call something a national championship. I've gone to the NE meet the last couple years and I'm looking forward to doing it again. But I'd consider a two-pool meet a serious downgrade: half my friends and teammates would be at another pool, and the swimming competition would likely be worse, too (what with the whole "seeding within age-group" thing at nationals).

This discussion has been going on for a long time. I respect what Jeff R has to say regarding all the work and effort that has to go into a National meet. Officials, volunteers, money, ect. Then you have the location. If it's on the East coast, a lot of west coast people won't or can't attend and vise-versa for the West coast for East Coast people. In this economy it getting harder for people just to attend there own meets in their own state or a neighboring one. 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