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
I really don't think it's a technology issue, although that would enhance things, and the issues I mention in my OP are more at enhancing the spectator experience. Most h.s. meets are dual meets. To provide scoring for the spectators I'd be happy with handwriting on a whiteboard updated after each event. And for timing...just a single clock that starts when the race begins, and runs through the last finisher. Times in a given event can vary widely in h.s. so it'd just be good to know, for example, if the 500 free winner is finishing in the low 5s, or over 6 minutes, etc.
Dan
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.
My experience in Indiana in the early 1980s was just the same, as was my surprise when I moved to the Bay Area.
Why is Missy Franklin no longer at Cal?
Missy said when she started at Cal that she would only be swimming there for two years. She wanted that college swimming experience, but knew the big show in 2016 would be Rio.
I swam High-school from 1969-1972. Our HS pool had a electronic scoreboard that showed team points for Home and Visitors.
There was an announcer for name of event.
Three timers per lane with wind-up stop watches. There was a board behind each lane where the timer could rotate a dial to show minutes, seconds, and tenths. The would post times after each race.
I found a picture from 1968.
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Most of our meets are bigger (no dual meets, usually 10+ teams)
That's interesting. In Michigan you'd usually start the season with a relay meet or two with many teams participating, then go into a dual meet season against the other teams in your conference, then a conference championship, then state meet. There were also a couple middle of the season invitational meets.
One of the things I find kind of goofy here in Washington is that the championship season goes three consecutive weekend. First is conference, then district, then state. That seems like too much to me.
Reading this thread has been interesting about different areas of the country and different eras. I think one difference is where the emphasis is for swimming in your state: club or HS? In GA most club kids do both throughout the winter. I've heard in other states it isn't allowed, the kids have to choose.
I currently coach HS and while it is not as serious as USA Swimming meets we still have all the up-to-date technology and scoring. Most of our meets are bigger (no dual meets, usually 10+ teams), we use electronic timing boards plus backup stopwatches, all pools have boards for times during each heat and scores/results are updated and posted regularly.
Our Georgia HS State Meet is actually this weekend. While making a HS state cut isn't as big of a deal as making other time cuts it's still exciting for the kids to swim against the best swimmers in the state.
Well, in regard to my OP, it appears that Rhode Island is just a state that has never really put too much into h.s. swimming. I cut-n-pasted the below article from this morning's Providece Journal sports section. I find it surprising that girls didn't even have their own swim meets until the late 80s (they competed as members of the boys teams), and no girls state championship until the early 90s.
Dan
----- Providence Journal, February 2, 2016 -----
He really made a splash in his field
The Rhode Island high school swimming community lost one of its legends last week with the unexpected death of Bruce Calvert at the age of 72.
Calvert coached Cumberland High School teams for 40 years, from the early 1970s until a few years ago.
By my count, his boys and girls teams combined to win a total of 13 state titles. He coached swimmers to All-State honors and even a few to All-American status.
But he was more than just a coach; he was an advocate for a sport that could often get left in the shadows of other high school sports.
I remember in the 1980s, when the only Interscholastic League competition for female swimmers was competing against boys in both regular-season and state meets, Calvert was one of the strongest voices that the girls should have their own championships.
Eventually, in the late 1980s, the girls did get their own meet individual meet, but no team championship. Calvert argued that the girls should be swimming for both state individual and team honors just like the boys.
Finally, in 1991-92, the Interscholastic League instituted a girls state meet in which both individual and team titles were decided. It wasn’t surprising that Calvert’s Cumberland girls team won the first five state team titles, from 1992-96.
As the aquatic director at Cumberland High, he taught four decades of students important life skills even if they never were a member of his teams. Even after he retired as coach, Calvert remained on the state scene as a swimming official.
Rhode Island has had some outstanding, dedicated high school swim coaches through the decades, but over the last half-century or so, four stand out — Ed Golden of Cranston East, Jim Lynch of Cranston West, Dave Hanson of Hendricken and Calvert.
It’s not easy becoming a legend, but Calvert earned a special place in Rhode Island high school swimming history. Condolences to his family, former swimmers and legion of friends.
I thought about this some more and decided to see what the rulebook(s) say.
The very first rule listed in the Rhode Island Interscholastic League (RIIL) rules for swim meets says:
All meets under the jurisdiction of the RIIL shall be operated according to the official National Federation of State High School Association (NFHS) Swimming Rules except for any special rulings adopted by the Committee.
There are no special rulings listed by RIIL regarding timing or scoring.
The NFHS's rules for the "Timing Equipment Operator" state that that individual is also responsible for operation of the scoreboard. The rules for "Scorer" state that that individual is responsible to Operate, or assist in operating, the visible scoring device.
So, I guess all those swim meets that had neither visual timing and/or scoreboard were in violation of established rules.
Dan
