It's time for the NCAA to switch to LCM; a Manifesto
Former Member
I believe that the US team has been hurt by the NCAA continuing to stick with the SCY format. I believe that the fact that fewer and fewer college athletes are making the team is partially because college athletes are trained to race SCY (of course there are several other reasons for the shift as well). Here's a summary of why I think sticking with SCY is silly:
1. LCM requires specific training and experience to race optimally. Starts and turns are somewhat deemphasized, pacing and rhythm are made even more important. You often see relatively inexperienced US swimmers crushing walls but then losing time between the flags (Tom Shields springs to mind). I believe this is partially a result of focusing on short course. Most NCAA teams train long course on occasion, but it needs to be the focus.
2. I believe that part of the reluctance to go LCM is that the NCAA feels it may discriminate against programs without their own LCM facility. This shouldn't be a concern any more. At this point every major DI program has an LCM facility (or several LCM facilities). Many (the majority?) of quality DII and DIII programs have LCM facilities. The NCAA should stop worrying about upsetting a minority of members, bite the bullet and say they're going LCM.
3. SCY is the Galapagos of swimming formats: it was developed in a vacuum and exists only in the US. LCM is the world standard. SCY to LCM time conversions are very suspect. The excitement of NCAA championships would be much enhanced if the times were comparable to other times around the world. This would improve the prestige of the conference and the meet and improve the centrality of the NCAA in the world swimming landscape. It would also remove one of the (smaller) concerns that foreign talent may have for training in the US. IMO, the US needs to swim and train with the best at all times to ensure it stays competitive. Moving to LCM will enhance their ability to do so.
All of these points are debatable. I'd be interested to see what other people think.
I appreciate the sentiment but am opposed to doing anything that might inspire any college program to drop swimming.
Agreed. I come from a fallen program, in part because they weren't willing to shell out for a new facility and our existing one was pretty bad.
I like the concept of having comparable times across the globe, but the money just isn't there. In the northeast, there are few colleges with 50 meter pools. Even if there were, it would make recruiting more difficult. High school swimming is huge up here and a lot of the kids only have yards times.
I believe that the US team has been hurt by the NCAA continuing to stick with the SCY format. I believe that the fact that fewer and fewer college athletes are making the team is partially because college athletes are trained to race SCY (of course there are several other reasons for the shift as well). Here's a summary of why I think sticking with SCY is silly:
1. LCM requires specific training and experience to race optimally. Starts and turns are somewhat deemphasized, pacing and rhythm are made even more important. You often see relatively inexperienced US swimmers crushing walls but then losing time between the flags (Tom Shields springs to mind). I believe this is partially a result of focusing on short course. Most NCAA teams train long course on occasion, but it needs to be the focus.
2. I believe that part of the reluctance to go LCM is that the NCAA feels it may discriminate against programs without their own LCM facility. This shouldn't be a concern any more. At this point every major DI program has an LCM facility (or several LCM facilities). Many (the majority?) of quality DII and DIII programs have LCM facilities. The NCAA should stop worrying about upsetting a minority of members, bite the bullet and say they're going LCM.
3. SCY is the Galapagos of swimming formats: it was developed in a vacuum and exists only in the US. LCM is the world standard. SCY to LCM time conversions are very suspect. The excitement of NCAA championships would be much enhanced if the times were comparable to other times around the world. This would improve the prestige of the conference and the meet and improve the centrality of the NCAA in the world swimming landscape. It would also remove one of the (smaller) concerns that foreign talent may have for training in the US. IMO, the US needs to swim and train with the best at all times to ensure it stays competitive. Moving to LCM will enhance their ability to do so.
All of these points are debatable. I'd be interested to see what other people think.
NCAA swimming championships started in 1937, most college pools at the time were short course yards.
A friend of mine thinks NCAA swimming is the downfall of USA Swimming on an international level. He argues NCAA swimming limits many USA swimmers ability to compete on an international level because the NCAA meet scoring system places a higher emphasis on short course sprinting than middle distance or distance swimming. His arguement is coaches train swimmers for 50's & 100's to win points instead of training them for 100's, 200's & 400's which he believes would be better for their long term careers and for USA on an international level.
NCAA Scoring
All events will be scored. Scoring shall be for 16 places as follows:
relays, 40-34-32-30-28-26-24-22-18-14-12-10-8-6-4-2;
individual events, 20-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.
Except in time final events, points for first through eighth place shall be
awarded solely on the basis of a championship final. Points for ninth through 16th place shall be awarded solely on the basis of a consolation final.
from 2010 DIVISION I MEN’S & WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS HANDBOOK
Sprint:
50 Freestyle
100 Freestyle
200 Freestyle
100 Butterfly
200 Butterfly
100 Backstroke
200 Backstroke
100 Breaststroke
200 Breaststroke
200 Individual Medley
200 Freestyle Relay
400 Freestyle Relay
800 Freestyle Relay
200 Medley Relay
400 Medley Relay
Distance:
500 Freestyle
1,650 Freestyle
400 Individual Medley
If we look at this years Mens Olympic team:
Alex Meyer - 10K Open Water
Ryan Lochte – 200 Back, 200 IM, 400m IM, 200 Free, 800 Free Relay
Peter Vanderkaay - 400 Free
Brendan Hansen - 100 ***
Michael Phelps – 200 IM, 400 IM, 100 Fly, 200 Fly, 800 Free Relay
Ricky Berens – 200 Free, 800 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay
Conor Dwyer – 400m Free, 800 Free Relay
Matt Grevers – 100 Backstroke, 400 Free Relay
Scott Weltz – 200 ***
Clark Burckle – 200 ***
Nathan Adrian – 100 Free, 400 Free Relay
Cullen Jones – 50 Free, 100 Free, 400 Free Relay
Eric Shanteau – 100 ***
Nick Thoman – 100 Back
Tyler Clary – 200 Fly, 200 Back
Tyler McGill – 100 Fly
Anthony Ervin – 50 Free
Jason Lezak – 400 Free Relay
Jimmy Feigen – 400 Free Relay
Matt McLean – 800 Free Relay
Charlie Houchin – 800 Free Relay
Davis Tarwater – 800 Free Relay
Andrew Gemmell – 1500 Free
Connor Jaeger – 1500 Free
Jimmy Feigen, Andrew Gemmell & Connor Jaeger are the 3 youngest swimmers. The average age of USA's mens team is higher because of Jason Lezak, 36, Anthony Ervin 31, & Brendan Hansen, 30. Phelps & Lochte are 27
No high school & few college men made USAs 2012 Olympic team. Simply put: It's hard for boys to compete with men. Elite swimming ability comes from years of training, maturity and strength. Older swimmers have trained harder & longer, they're stronger than boys who haven't fully matured or just maturing. Pro swimming is the game changer, elite swimmers can make a living from swimming.
NCAA swimming is the farm league for future professional swimmers. I'm more concerned with colleges dropped swimming programs because of budgets & title 9 than whether NCAAs are SCY or LCM.
On USA's 2012 Olympic Roster, only Michael Phelps skipped NCAA swimming to go pro as a teenager. I'm not worried about whether NCAAs are SCY, SCM, or LCM, our creme will rise to the top. Our best swimmers will get trained by our best coaches and they will be ready for international competition. I think it's better to have a short course season & a long course season. Coaches believe swimmers don't have to train long course all the time during long course season.
If we didn't have Phelps & Lochte, USA might be in serious trouble.
some might find this article interesting.
Olympian Rowdy Gaines on the US swim team's gold medal pressure
The issue really starts at the club level. Michael Phelps emerged as such a remarkable swimmer at age 14 & 15 because of the coaching he got and the training he did when he was 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 & beyond. Bowman orchestrated a great long-term training plan for Michael.
When he was 14 he went:
200 FR 1:56.85 912 (LCM) 2000 US Cadillac Challenge MD NBAC 5/26/2000
400 FR LCM 14 3:58.80 1019 (LCM) 2000 US Cadillac Challenge MD NBAC 5/26/2000
1500 FR LCM 14 15:39.08 15:39.08 1013 US Nationals MD NBAC 3/28/2000
200 BR LCM 14 2:27.42 910 (LCM) 2000 US Top 16 MD NBAC 5/1/2000
100 FL LCM 14 55.78 1010 (LCM) 2000 US Cadillac Challenge MD NBAC 5/26/2000
200 FL LCM 14 1:59.02 1099 2000 US Nationals MD NBAC 3/28/2000
200 IM LCM 14 2:06.50 1036 Olympic Trials 2000 US Cadillac Challenge MD NBAC 5/26/2000
400 IM LCM 14 4:24.77 4:24.77 1058 (LCM) 2000 US Nationals MD NBAC 3/28/2000
USA Swimming Times Search
And because he went 1:59.02 in the 200 fl as a 14 year old, he was able to go 1:57.48 in the MEN's 200 Meter Butterfly at the USA 2000 trials in August when he was barely 15.
2) PHELPS, MICHAEL 15 NORTH BALTIMORE 1:58.61 1:58.24 1:57.48
:26.72 :29.75 :30.99 :30.02
2000 Trials Results
College Training is important but it's the training kids do way before that that matters most. And OK to have 2 SC seasons and 1 LC season.
I appreciate the sentiment but am opposed to doing anything that might inspire any college program to drop swimming.
This is a good point. Sure, if you look at the top 25 teams at Div I championships, they all probably have a LCM pool. According to a list on Wikipedia, there are 195 Division I schools with either a women's or men's swimming program, or both. (I'm going to assume that list is at least close to accurate.) Out of 195 Division I swimming schools, I'd be surprised if more than half of them had LCM pools.
-Rick
A friend of mine thinks NCAA swimming is the downfall of USA Swimming on an international level.
By what measure? In the history of Olympic swimming the US has won 489 total medals. Australia is second with 168. The US has won 214 gold medals out of the 489 total awarded. In 2008 the US won 12 golds and Australia was second with 6. The US won 31 of the 104 medals awarded and the percentage would probably be higher if three swimmers per nation were allowed in the individual events. Is there another sport where any single country has been as dominant at the Olympics?
Is there another sport where any single country has been as dominant at the Olympics?
That's easy: Basketball. And most of our players don't play by international rules unless and until they see some international competition (which is rare, I think).
This manifesto is a manifarto. I think the uniqueness of SCY season is what makes USA swimming even that much better than the rest of the world. I don't want to see a bunch of LCM meter meets year round. That's boring, almost as boring as watching non free 50s at USMS meets, a topic that really deserves its own manifranko.
Speaking of manifestos, check out a triathlete going to bat for us swimmers.
Is there another sport where any single country has been as dominant at the Olympics?Great Britain in Tug of War 40% of all medals. And they took almost 50% of the polo medals.:D
USA was dominant in Plunge for Distance, winning 100% of all Olympic medals awarded in the sport.
