I didn't start swimming until back in the mid-80s after I'd been out of h.s. for a few years. And although I've been swimming all those years...I'd never been to a h.s. swim meet until my daughter joined her h.s. swim team in 10th grade (she's in college now no longer swimming). When I went to her first meet I was disappointed that there was no scoreboard, nor even a clock being kept for spectators. I soon realized that h.s. swim meets are about the worst spectator sport there can be (at least here in Rhode Island). It's harsh on the senses! It's hot; it's loud; it's bright; there's usually an overpowering smell of chlorine; and no score or timing. I ask a parent of one of the upper classmen about scoring and timing for spectators and was told "they never do it." In the stands were essentially parents and families members with no knowledge of scoring, blindly cheering for their swimmers. No one would know the outcome of the meet until well after it. So, I decided that if I was going to enjoy the meets I'd at least have to learn how to score them. So I did...and I'd keep other parents in the stands apprised of the running score too. They liked that. Then, the coach found out that I knew how to keep score and she asked me to assist her on deck during meets. She wanted me to keep her apprised of the score, event-by-event, so she could more easily determine how to move swimmers into different events as the meet went on. I was kind of stunned to find out that even coaches had a hard time keeping up with the score. It was fun being involved. But I experienced occasions wherein the officials wouldn't even 'officially' inform a coach that a swimmer had been DQ'd for whatever reason. Crazy! So, I sent a few emails to the state h.s. athletic association telling them what I thought they needed to do to make swim meets more spectator friendly, to get more than just parents out there cheering for the swimmers -- at least provide a running score. No response. It all fell on deaf ears. Or, maybe no one ever reads the email addressed to their "info@" address. Anyway, fast forward to last week. I was at a h.s. basketball game and the assistant director of state h.s. athletics was there. I kind of know him, he used to be a teacher at our h.s. I bent his ear about my swim meet complaints and he really listened. He said he'd actually never been to a h.s. swim meet. But he said he's now going to go to some and look into making some of the additions/changes that I recommended. I feel better.
Dan
Your description is exactly what I saw when my son was swim team capt. in HS in 1999-2000 in upstate NY. I sat through many terribly boring meets not knowing the outcome of anything even as we left to go home. I don't think that's still the case today. I went to a master's meet last week near Schenectady NY and that HS pool had a huge scoreboard with running times for each lane visible to all.
Yeah, this really varies from place to place. I went to high school in Michigan and HS swimming was taken seriously there. Well, not seriously compared to football or basketball, but you know what I mean. Most pools had readout boards and an announcer kept everyone abreast of the score. Kids swam high school only during the high school season, not with their USS club team. Here in Washington things are totally different. High school swim meets sound pretty much as you described them. Things like districts or states are more formal, but it is still decidedly a sideshow compared to club swimming. Also, good swimmers do their primary training with their club team and HS practices are kind of a joke. Like maybe an hour a day. Doubles are unheard of. Some elite swimmers don't even bother to swim on their high school team. I think this is sort of sad because I thought high school swimming was a blast!
I'd be curious to hear what people's experience was in other states.
WOW - what a poor sense of HS swimming in those two states. I coached boys and girls HS for 34 seasons and even in bankrupt and corrupt Illinois we always had scoreboards and place and time per lane at all swim meets. you in those states really need to put the pressure on Athletic directors do get with a program of at least even with other sports!
Was fortunate enough to attend high school in California's Santa Clara Valley during its swimming heyday (1968-1972). The best of the best still swam with their respective high school teams. A few attended workouts in the morning with their clubs (unattached), but so often the club team was the high school team. Nowadays, it seems as though our elites rarely even bother with swimming in high school varsity dual meets.
Question, is a similar phenomenon occuring with NCAA Division I? Why is Missy Franklin no longer at Cal?
Thank you very much.
When I was in high school there was no swim team, just the town team. By the time we got into junior high, only the "serious" swimmers continued with the team as others defected to "the real" sports with their friends. About 15 years ago, a club started which turned into a varsity sport. There might be a couple of schools with pools up north, but most Vermont pools are in Rec Centers/Y's/private clubs, or summer pools. Our high school actually competes with the western Mass league in the Berkshires through some arrangement. Most pools are small with limited spectator seating in community pools. No score boards, touch pads ... two or three watches per lane. It is a neat way to experience our sport - all of the yelling and encouraging by the kids, coaches, and parents alike as the coaches manipulate the lineup to try to score the most points.
When I was in HS (late 80s), all the scoring for our school's meets was done by student 'managers'. Our school had two working the score, one announcer, and one person (me for the girls' team, a girls' captain for our boys' team) taking splits, recording, and serving as gopher for the coach. All timing was manual, with volunteer timer and runners (also students). The officials were mostly interested in getting the meet over with, so things would go fast. The 500 felt like an hour break, and we'd get caught up. We would announce the score periodically when we could, but always right as diving would begin. We would usually be able to announce the score before the free relay, which was the last event.
It was pretty labor intensive for a 'minor' sport. Some road meets, we would not know results until the next day.
Your description is exactly what I saw when my son was swim team capt. in HS in 1999-2000 in upstate NY. I sat through many terribly boring meets not knowing the outcome of anything even as we left to go home. I don't think that's still the case today. I went to a master's meet last week near Schenectady NY and that HS pool had a huge scoreboard with running times for each lane visible to all.
Funny you mention that, because I'm from a Section V Class A school in Western NY, graduated in '99. We had scoreboards at most or all of our meets back then, so it must vary depending on the size of the schools. Granted, the technology wasn't in place for real-time scoring, so it was always a bit delayed.
Funny you mention that, because I'm from a Section V Class A school in Western NY, graduated in '99. We had scoreboards at most or all of our meets back then, so it must vary depending on the size of the schools. Granted, the technology wasn't in place for real-time scoring, so it was always a bit delayed.
No, our school size in 99 was between 1500-2000. The one I was at last week is about 1200.
