So Why is Indy a Small Showing?

Remarkable restraint for an LA denizen - you avoided Fresno bashing. I am not the usual LA person you would expect. I grew up visiting family in Kerman (grapes and cotton, really hated Cesar Chavez) every year on the way to Downieville and playing in Roeding park. Only people who don't know (or perhaps know too well) have the temerity to bash a place like Fresno. It is a real city in the very center of rural, agricultural California.

One factor that probably reduced out of town attendance for the Clovis meet is airfare into Fresno is usually way more expensive than most destinations Cheap, direct flights to and from Seattle made this one a no-brainer for me, but I could see how those coming from the east would have to think about it. I loved Clovis nationals, it was lightly attended but it was outdoors with nice weather and there was an insane amount of space for warmups. Probably my favorite out of any Nationals I've attended. Great facility, I swam great and I made a vacation out of it by also visiting King's Canyon and Yosemite during the trip.

I loved Clovis nationals, it was lightly attended but it was outdoors with nice weather and there was an insane amount of space for warmups. Often I had a lane to myself for pre-event warmups and could do some good pace work. Even the pre-meet warmups weren't too crowded since there was something like 40 SC lanes available. People who DO go to Indy this nationals are probably in for a similar treat; enjoy. Clovis was my favorite SCY Nats.It was so great to have all the warmup I wanted and the weather was great.

All in the largest LMSC by far with the best organization and most clubs, just north of the second largest LMSC. Same is true about the Clovis meet (1582).

Clovis was my favorite SCY Nats.It was so great to have all the warmup I wanted and the weather was great. That's the only Nationals I've been to. Clovis North is ten minutes away. Sadly we will never be able to have a short course nationals there again. In 09, the newly opened Clovis North only had freshmen and sophomores. Now it's a fully attended school and the district would never allow an event that size that is partially on school days.

True enough. That still goes to show that most entries are local, since so many easterners on these forums made loud proclamations that they would not go because it wasn't worth it somehow. Maybe they thought they were in jeopardy of being scalped by indian war parties. Those of us in the west know that hardly ever happens anymore. Remarkable restraint for an LA denizen - you avoided Fresno bashing. One factor that probably reduced out of town attendance for the Clovis meet is airfare into Fresno is usually way more expensive than most destinations; high enough that it is often worth driving to SJC, SFO or LAX before getting on a plane.

It might be the $$$ for hotels- gas & fees in this down economy. Other than that , it seems in line with other Indy meets. I'm gong, not that it makes much difference.

The other interesting thing I note in the list is that, with all the swimming prowess at the USA swimming level in the mid-Atlantic, we have had no SCY Nationals in the DC to NYC area. I know there have been LCM nats in Baltimore and Rutgers, but wonder why an NYC area team/pool has never bid on an SCY Nationals? I imagine the Greensboro 'relative proximity' to the mid-Atlantic and northeast also drove those numbers higher. That area also has some great Zone meets, so maybe they don't need/want to host a national meet? I've been to the NE SCM Zone meet twice, and I have to say that it is by far my best overall meet experience. Events have enough people that it is possible to do back-to-back and have some rest, yet you aren't stuck sitting around all day either (we wrapped up around 4-5pm). There are restaurants within 5 min walk from the pool, and if those aren't good enough you have 2 T stops about 5 min walk either direction from the pool (which also helps for getting from your hotel to pool, or like me getting from pool directly to Logan when you leave). From the sounds of it, the Colonies Zone puts on similar fantastic meets that attract swimmers from that region. I've only gone to 1 nationals, and I definitely did NOT like the mosh-pit warm-up conditions (the odd thing was the ASU Rec Center pool was wide open and just a 10 min walk away from the comp pool), nor did I like sitting outside baking in the sun waiting for what seemed like hours between events, that were running very behind. It also was a bit of a PITA to go until 7-8pm. While I do like my team's meets, and try to do them if I'm in town, it is really tough to do well in multiple events when so few swimmers show up. They're more like timed workouts than meets; with the advantage you can show up at 7am and be home by 11am. For me, it is more like a Goldilocks scenario...some are too big (and/or inconvenient where I'd need a car), some are too small, and others are just right :)