I, along with 58 others, swam the Southern LCM championship on 7/29-30/2017. We did so in the University of New Orleans Pool in New Orleans, LA just as we have for years with the exception of the Hurricane Katrina year and several subsequent years.
My problem is that, when I checked my times of the USMS website, the times were in red with an explanation that they could not be used as official for records because the pool's measurement was not certified as it had a moveable bulkhead. I emailed Southern and asked why the certification had not been sent in and they replied that it had been sent but it had an error and USMS would not let it be corrected. This bummed me out as I had 4 top 10 swims and 5 Southern record swims for my age group.
This seems to be an awful price to pay for the innocent, dues and event paying participant who has no control pool certification. All we know is that the bulkhead is at the far end of the pool, 50 meters, where it always has been for LCM meets in the past. There is nothing obvious that we can detect or correct to make the pool certifiable and there is no way to make sure the form is sent in correctly.
There must be some way USMS can rectify this situation without invalidating the times of the swimmers who invested time and money in the meet.
Bobsig,
I do hope alot of swimmers read this thread, so they can begin challenging Meet Directors to ensure pool length is certifiable. I am married to the USMS SWIMS coordinator, so I see alot of pool measurement forms. You would not believe how many pool measurement forms are submitted that make little sense. The info is written down and there seems to be no effort to make sure the numbers make sense. Due to many different designs, bulkheads need to be measured every time a meet is held in that pool. Just because the previous meet's measurement was acceptable does not mean the next meet will be.
For your meet, there were questions about the pool measurement. The pre-meet measurement indicated at least one lane was short. The Meet Director should have either had the bulkhead moved or informed all swimmers that times would not count for Top Ten. They did not. The after-meet measurement showed that at least one lane was short. Believe me, a huge effort was made in an attempt to accept the times. But, in the end and after much discussion, the Rules Committee made the decision to NOT accept any times.
If you think about Southern saying the "the measurement had been sent in with an error and USMS would not allow it to be corrected," you will see the problem with that logic. The Meet Director should have fixed the bulkhead and re-measured. I am guessing the MD did not really think about it and just sent it through as if simply doing the measurement met the requirement - even if it was short. The Meet Director (and others) made a mistake and 58 people are paying for it. USMS is the not problem here - the lack of attention-to-detail by the Meet Director is.
If I were in your position, I would be just as dissatisfied as you. In my opinion, you should get your money back because the Meet Host should have done better. They should know if the pool is legal in advance of the meet. If the first measurement is short and they cannot fix it, they should notify all swimmers before the meet begins. If swimmer(s) decide not to compete they should get their money back.
Now, the nuance is that the meet info does give the Meet Director an out because the meet info states that it is a bulkhead pool. As a swimmer, you should pressure the meet director to refund your entry fees because the pool was not of legal length.
Good Luck - I do feel your pain.
Paul Windrath
Bobsig,
I do hope alot of swimmers read this thread, so they can begin challenging Meet Directors to ensure pool length is certifiable. I am married to the USMS SWIMS coordinator, so I see alot of pool measurement forms. You would not believe how many pool measurement forms are submitted that make little sense. The info is written down and there seems to be no effort to make sure the numbers make sense. Due to many different designs, bulkheads need to be measured every time a meet is held in that pool. Just because the previous meet's measurement was acceptable does not mean the next meet will be.
For your meet, there were questions about the pool measurement. The pre-meet measurement indicated at least one lane was short. The Meet Director should have either had the bulkhead moved or informed all swimmers that times would not count for Top Ten. They did not. The after-meet measurement showed that at least one lane was short. Believe me, a huge effort was made in an attempt to accept the times. But, in the end and after much discussion, the Rules Committee made the decision to NOT accept any times.
If you think about Southern saying the "the measurement had been sent in with an error and USMS would not allow it to be corrected," you will see the problem with that logic. The Meet Director should have fixed the bulkhead and re-measured. I am guessing the MD did not really think about it and just sent it through as if simply doing the measurement met the requirement - even if it was short. The Meet Director (and others) made a mistake and 58 people are paying for it. USMS is the not problem here - the lack of attention-to-detail by the Meet Director is.
If I were in your position, I would be just as dissatisfied as you. In my opinion, you should get your money back because the Meet Host should have done better. They should know if the pool is legal in advance of the meet. If the first measurement is short and they cannot fix it, they should notify all swimmers before the meet begins. If swimmer(s) decide not to compete they should get their money back.
Now, the nuance is that the meet info does give the Meet Director an out because the meet info states that it is a bulkhead pool. As a swimmer, you should pressure the meet director to refund your entry fees because the pool was not of legal length.
Good Luck - I do feel your pain.
Paul Windrath
