Entries for European Masters in London are open(EDIT:reopen)

Shame on LEN. As an expat American resident of London, I was so looking forward to the possibilities associated with hosting Europeans. I assumed this would replicate the great experiences I've had in Stockholm, Llublijana, and Riccione. Instead they have managed to create a logistical nightmare and incredible ill will with their arrogance. They neither understand nor care a rat's... about Masters swimming. I find it surprising that they were surprised by the popularity of London and the Olympic pool as venue. A major European destination with a great pool and Euro Champs happening too? Seriously? No disrespect to Eindhoven, but it simply doesn't have the same pull. Now swimmers are being forced to reduce their entries to 3 (understandable), however LEN won't say which events are now going to be held in the warm-up pool to accommodate the large number of swimmers (which, BTW is not regulation length when timing equipment is installed). People cannot make an informed choice. The refund policy had to be forced out of them. At first there was no refund policy. All knee-jerk reactions with little to no thought. Entry times are far too easy. Additionally, it seems you don't actually have to prove you can do your entry times (this was one down side to Riccione, where many swims were far slower than the cut-off...not that many people could have that many bad swims in multiple events). There is no policy for reducing the number of swims based on demand (such as USMS Nationals does) or a policy on how many entries for swims that don't make the cut-off. Oh, and we're "sorry" for the inconvenience caused to those of you who have flights/hotels booked that are now out of sync with the days you'll be swimming. Again, swimmers have to suffer the consequences of LEN's organisational ineptitude. Bureaucrats through and through. Such disrespect makes me draw the same conclusion that many have drawn: they care nothing for Masters except the money our events bring in. While it would be a tall order to create a USMS of Europe, I do hope this prompts European masters swimmers to apply pressure to their home country swimming associations to apply pressure to LEN for change.

Shame on LEN. As an expat American resident of London, I was so looking forward to the possibilities associated with hosting Europeans. I assumed this would replicate the great experiences I've had in Stockholm, Llublijana, and Riccione. Instead they have managed to create a logistical nightmare and incredible ill will with their arrogance. They neither understand nor care a rat's... about Masters swimming. I find it surprising that they were surprised by the popularity of London and the Olympic pool as venue. A major European destination with a great pool and Euro Champs happening too? Seriously? No disrespect to Eindhoven, but it simply doesn't have the same pull. Now swimmers are being forced to reduce their entries to 3 (understandable), however LEN won't say which events are now going to be held in the warm-up pool to accommodate the large number of swimmers (which, BTW is not regulation length when timing equipment is installed). People cannot make an informed choice. The refund policy had to be forced out of them. At first there was no refund policy. All knee-jerk reactions with little to no thought. Entry times are far too easy. Additionally, it seems you don't actually have to prove you can do your entry times (this was one down side to Riccione, where many swims were far slower than the cut-off...not that many people could have that many bad swims in multiple events). There is no policy for reducing the number of swims based on demand (such as USMS Nationals does) or a policy on how many entries for swims that don't make the cut-off. Oh, and we're "sorry" for the inconvenience caused to those of you who have flights/hotels booked that are now out of sync with the days you'll be swimming. Again, swimmers have to suffer the consequences of LEN's organisational ineptitude. Bureaucrats through and through. Such disrespect makes me draw the same conclusion that many have drawn: they care nothing for Masters except the money our events bring in. While it would be a tall order to create a USMS of Europe, I do hope this prompts European masters swimmers to apply pressure to their home country swimming associations to apply pressure to LEN for change.