I am guessing it is because of course logistics. It is frustrating because as a pool swimmer who also loves OW there are so few events on a regular basis! Living in the SE we can OW swim from April to late October but the races are few and far between outside of triathlons.
Besides the race calendar on the USMS site, where else can I find event listings?
Comparing pool to open water swimming, I think you need to consider the fact that age group swimming is big. That means there are a lot of pool meets. The incremental (not quite the right word) of running masters events is relatively small. There are already a bunch of certified meet referees, people who know their way around being a meet director or running Meet Manager, etc. I don't know if running a meet is a money-making proposition, but an age group team running a masters meet might be a source of revenue for the team. Open water swimming doesn't really benefit from any of that, making it more difficult to get all your ducks in a row to put on a meet.
Comparing pool to open water swimming, I think you need to consider the fact that age group swimming is big. That means there are a lot of pool meets. The incremental (not quite the right word) of running masters events is relatively small. There are already a bunch of certified meet referees, people who know their way around being a meet director or running Meet Manager, etc. I don't know if running a meet is a money-making proposition, but an age group team running a masters meet might be a source of revenue for the team. Open water swimming doesn't really benefit from any of that, making it more difficult to get all your ducks in a row to put on a meet.
