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.
Out of curiosity, for big meets like Nationals is the pool rental usually done on a per diem basis? If so it's kind of a sunk cost. I guess you could argue the meet needs a fourth day because of the distance events, but I consider them part of the meet program. I don't think you can directly compare a pool race in swimming to something like a bike ride, triathlon, or road race. To host a marathon, for example, you need people staged all throughout the course. You need roads closed, you need police. All of these things are going to be more expensive the longer the race is so the entry fees should reflect this.
Out of curiosity, for big meets like Nationals is the pool rental usually done on a per diem basis? If so it's kind of a sunk cost. I guess you could argue the meet needs a fourth day because of the distance events, but I consider them part of the meet program. I don't think you can directly compare a pool race in swimming to something like a bike ride, triathlon, or road race. To host a marathon, for example, you need people staged all throughout the course. You need roads closed, you need police. All of these things are going to be more expensive the longer the race is so the entry fees should reflect this.
