Idea: North American V. Europe MASTERS dual in the pool in Reykjavik, Iceland
When I visited Iceland in the summer of 2012 I swam at the Laugardalslaug pool and marveled at how a city of 200,000 had such a nice aquatic complex and overall swimming culture of the locals. They even had a strong open water community. I started thinking this would be a good place for a masters meet, the idea kinda died until I watched the dual in the pool yesterday and thought why not do this masters style in Reykjavik. Thoughts from organizer promoter types out there?
- Dual meet style, maybe over a long weekend Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
- The Laugardalslaug aquatic center in Rekykjavik has two 50-meter pools.
- Icelandair provides a free lay over up to one week in Iceland before heading on to cities in Europe etc.,
- The are even area's for open water swimming, really.
- North America team would include Mexico and Canada.
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Things to do in Iceland
- A natural wonder
- Volcanoes
- Waterfalls
- Thermals
- Whale watching
- Dining and shopping in Reykjavik
- Open water swimming at Nauthólsvík Beach
www.icelandair.us/.../
Note I'm not a paid agent of Iceland, just enjoyed my visit ;-)
I like the idea, but then I like the idea of going to Europeans and Worlds. Like so many, don't go because of time and money.
I believe that masters swimming would be so much stronger with proper international representation and recognition from our federations, and with funded teams. If you had to go to the national long course to qualify, but had a shot at being on a funded team to the world's, then the nationals (which Lc are not that well attended in the UK) would be a much better meet....
Similarly, this idea would be great if there was funding and proper representative honours. But British Swimming isn't interested in putting anything back into masters, we're just here to subsidise age group/senior swimming with our membership and inflated meet fees.
Sorry, that turned into a bit of a rant...
Rob, you bring up some interesting points, but from my own experience there are some downsides to federation funding and involvement that need to be considered.
One of the aspects I enjoy about US Masters Swimming is the fact that, although there are a variety of different levels of swimmers participating at large meets such as nationals or Worlds, anyone can participate. Although participation is not funded, many local LMSCs or teams do their own fundraising to be able to get a team together.
If you begin to include heavy funding and federation involvement, you may lose control of participation. Having a selected, federation-funded team also means that very few besides that specific, elite team will be able to achieve importance, and represent their country on the international level.
Federations do need to be involved - to approve a competition, to provide the necessary insurance and sometimes to officiate the competition. But even if the federation's involvement is minimal, it is more than possible to have a successful competition in the true spirit of masters swimming - open to all and with none of the red tape or limitations that come with being funded.
I like the idea, but then I like the idea of going to Europeans and Worlds. Like so many, don't go because of time and money.
I believe that masters swimming would be so much stronger with proper international representation and recognition from our federations, and with funded teams. If you had to go to the national long course to qualify, but had a shot at being on a funded team to the world's, then the nationals (which Lc are not that well attended in the UK) would be a much better meet....
Similarly, this idea would be great if there was funding and proper representative honours. But British Swimming isn't interested in putting anything back into masters, we're just here to subsidise age group/senior swimming with our membership and inflated meet fees.
Sorry, that turned into a bit of a rant...
Rob, you bring up some interesting points, but from my own experience there are some downsides to federation funding and involvement that need to be considered.
One of the aspects I enjoy about US Masters Swimming is the fact that, although there are a variety of different levels of swimmers participating at large meets such as nationals or Worlds, anyone can participate. Although participation is not funded, many local LMSCs or teams do their own fundraising to be able to get a team together.
If you begin to include heavy funding and federation involvement, you may lose control of participation. Having a selected, federation-funded team also means that very few besides that specific, elite team will be able to achieve importance, and represent their country on the international level.
Federations do need to be involved - to approve a competition, to provide the necessary insurance and sometimes to officiate the competition. But even if the federation's involvement is minimal, it is more than possible to have a successful competition in the true spirit of masters swimming - open to all and with none of the red tape or limitations that come with being funded.
