I see that the Championship Committee is finally considering having distance swimmers pay more for their splashes. See www.usms.org/.../champ-2012-3-25-1.pdf. This is long overdue since they are the reason that national championships last so long. If we only had 50’s and 100’s we’d be done by noon every day. Maybe with increased fees swimmers will think twice before entering a 1650.
As for the charging more for distance events? No. Absolutely not. All events in the same meet should be the same price. (*)
If I charge more for the 500 free than the 50 free... should I charge more for the person who does a 6-minute 200 fly? They're taking longer than many of my 500 freestyle swimmers.
We have a swimmer who has routinely come to our championship meet, and competes in the 1650 freestyle in about 70 minutes. We know he's coming, and we plan for it. He paid for his spot just like everyone else. We set the entry fees for the meet so that all of this is taken into account. It all averages out.
As most people would probably expect, I'd be much more in favor of charging penalties for people who have terrible seed times. I already reward (financially) people who have good seed times.
-Rick
(*) I will note that at our NE LMSC Champs, we offer 1000 and 1650 free in both the deep racing course, and our shallow warmup course. You can't dive in the shallow course, and it's shallow. So we offer a $2 discount for the shallow events. This price differential is because we're offering it in a lower-tier competition facility compared to the others, which I think is OK.
(*) I will also carve an exception for relays, which by convention are priced differently.
As for the charging more for distance events? No. Absolutely not. All events in the same meet should be the same price. (*)
If I charge more for the 500 free than the 50 free... should I charge more for the person who does a 6-minute 200 fly? They're taking longer than many of my 500 freestyle swimmers.
We have a swimmer who has routinely come to our championship meet, and competes in the 1650 freestyle in about 70 minutes. We know he's coming, and we plan for it. He paid for his spot just like everyone else. We set the entry fees for the meet so that all of this is taken into account. It all averages out.
As most people would probably expect, I'd be much more in favor of charging penalties for people who have terrible seed times. I already reward (financially) people who have good seed times.
-Rick
(*) I will note that at our NE LMSC Champs, we offer 1000 and 1650 free in both the deep racing course, and our shallow warmup course. You can't dive in the shallow course, and it's shallow. So we offer a $2 discount for the shallow events. This price differential is because we're offering it in a lower-tier competition facility compared to the others, which I think is OK.
(*) I will also carve an exception for relays, which by convention are priced differently.
