Last year at about this time, I had a forum entry about USMS not accepting the times because of a supposed clerical error in the pool certification application. It was pointed out to me that it was a pool measurement error and not a clerical error that caused this. It frustrated me because I had swum 5 LMSC freestyle records and 6 top ten Zone records. I had done this under duress as I had a stent placed in a blocked artery not long after the meet.
Well, since that time, I have swum in two competitions, SCY and LCM. On both of these meets, I asked the individuals if the pool measurement were certified. The SCY was in a stationary bulkhead pool that received certification before the meet and the LCM in a movable bulkhead pool.
Everything went ok in the SCY but when I looked up my times in the Zone and USMS sites, they did not appear. Just this week, I found out it was another pool measurement issue and my, once again LMSC records and top tens have been wiped out.
I know the reasoning behind the exclusion of the times but +/- 1cm would not make a difference in where I or anybody in the meet would finally appear in any top 10 or record.
This is a stiff penalty to pay for people to pay for driving good distances to swim in meets, pay good money and spend all day Saturday and Sunday for what comes to be a glorified practice. If USMS is going to be draconian with its rules, they should, in this day of instant messaging, have a set up whereby the pool measurements could be verified and certified on the morning of the meet if it is being held in a movable bulkhead pool.
Thanks for letting me rant.
Bob Sigerson
I really don't swim in USMS meets, but this topic is kind of interesting to me. A couple of questions I have is...1) How long have those touch pad timing systems been in use? And, 2) why aren't competition pools designed and built to accommodate them and still make the pool length regulation...even though the pool owner may not currently be interested in having them? I'd think that a spacer could be used to fill the space where the pad would go. Seems like it'd be easy enough to create space during the construction, and then have a removable spacer mounted there until the pads are needed.
Also, WRT pool length certification...why aren't the certifications on display during meets? It's something that ever single participate is concerned with. Individual swimmers should not have to go seeking the certification out. FINA/USAS/USMS should mandate that to meet organizers have the certification on display during meets.
Dan
I really don't swim in USMS meets, but this topic is kind of interesting to me. A couple of questions I have is...1) How long have those touch pad timing systems been in use? And, 2) why aren't competition pools designed and built to accommodate them and still make the pool length regulation...even though the pool owner may not currently be interested in having them? I'd think that a spacer could be used to fill the space where the pad would go. Seems like it'd be easy enough to create space during the construction, and then have a removable spacer mounted there until the pads are needed.
Also, WRT pool length certification...why aren't the certifications on display during meets? It's something that ever single participate is concerned with. Individual swimmers should not have to go seeking the certification out. FINA/USAS/USMS should mandate that to meet organizers have the certification on display during meets.
Dan
