Masters and elite together in the Worldchampionships

Very interesting idea.I can't say I know anything about Kazan or Tartarstan. I found it strange that the article said that they expected 12000 athletes but then Marculescu (head of FINA) said that Riccione was too big"but this isn't going to happen in Kazan","We have to construct a realistic event with a realistic number of athletes". I await further info.

I found it strange that the article said that they expected 12000 athletes but then Marculescu (head of FINA) said that Riccione was too big"but this isn't going to happen in Kazan","We have to construct a realistic event with a realistic number of athletes". I think he's correct. Kazan is 800 km east of Moscow. You could say it's in the middle of nowhere for most people. Not sure I like the idea of the events being concurrent or not. I figure masters are likely to get the shaft and it's going to mean even more people packed into one metropolitan area. Hopefully even though the story says the events will be held "concurrently" what they really mean is "consecutively" like USMS LC Nationals and Olympic Trials last summer in Omaha. I can't see how they'd do it any other way, really.

I can't wait to ask my wife about going to Russia just after asking to go to Montreal.

Hopefully even though the story says the events will be held "concurrently" what they really mean is "consecutively" like USMS LC Nationals and Olympic Trials last summer in Omaha. I can't see how they'd do it any other way, really. By dramatically reducing the number of Masters events, and setting faster QTs for the ones that remain on the program? Which would, of course, completely change the nature of Masters Worlds. As an analogous situation, many people have suggested that the Olympics and Paralympics should be merged. I can't see that leading anywhere other than to significantly fewer events for athletes with disabilities. In the Manchester (2002) and Melbourne (2006) Commonwealth Games, a whole 4 events for swimmers with disability on the program - Men's and Women's 50FR and 100FR. In Dehli (2010), 6 events for swimmers with disability, but only less disabled/faster classes could compete.

In the Manchester (2002) and Melbourne (2006) Commonwealth Games, a whole 4 events for swimmers with disability on the program - Men's and Women's 50FR and 100FR. ...each swimmer racing against the WR for their disability classification (WR is 1000 points etc). Very unusual for an International meet, but at lower levels of competitions it's more or less the norm (sometimes as mixed gender multi-class, sometimes as M/F). Something similar could theoretically be done with Masters WRs - Masters Swimming Australia database automagically puts a point score with every swim, and some meet results include them too. Racing against WRs rather than for wall, M35 swimmers could theoretically compete against W80 ones. Goodness, I hope they don't go there for a concurrent elite/Masters Worlds! (It didn't work too well for EAD events at the 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games - half the spectators didn't understand what was going on - hence the move to single-classification events at Delhi 2010). Also, if elite and Masters Worlds were run concurrently, how would you get eg accommodation for all the swimmers (and hangers on - Australia sent 19 swimmers, 6 coaches and 9 other staff to the recent World Short Course Champs in Instanbul).

Re accommodation in Kazan. The only way this can be done is if Kazan opens up the athletes village from the Universiade 2013 again. Overall, Kazan is probably the 2nd nicest city in Russia after St. Petersburg. I think people will like it a lot there.

Something similar could theoretically be done with Masters WRs - Masters Swimming Australia database automagically puts a point score with every swim, and some meet results include them too. Racing against WRs rather than for wall, M35 swimmers could theoretically compete against W80 ones. Best performances in LCM 200FR against Masters WRs in Australia last year: 1. Liz Wallis (W85-89) - 3:59.07 - 963 points 2. Georgene McKenzie-Hicks (W85-89) - 4:01.97 - 929 points 3. Jennie Bucknell (W45-49) - 2:15.83 - 906 points 4. Francis Christian (M55-59) - 2:12.35 - 905 points 5. Kelly Higgins (W30-34) - 2:10.58 - 898 points ...interesting.