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
Good Morning Bob,
Pool measurements do get sent to the Top 10 administrator - after the meet. There is no reason to email the certificates to the Top 10 administrator before the meet because there need to be before and after measurements. This would be asking the Top 10 administrator to be available 24/7 to read numbers that the local meet personnel should be able to read and respond to. Understanding the numbers is NOT rocket science. Measuring a pool does require some skill though.
For the specific meet in question, I am looking at the pool measurement certificate(s) that were submitted. The one with raw data is illegible and incorrectly filled in. The re-submitted certificate shows the following issues:
a) All 8 lanes were measured before the meet. lane 8 is recorded as 164' 5/8" - too short. Lanes 1-7 are ok
b) Premeet recordings: Lane 8 is still short. AND, all of a sudden Lane 4 is 1" shorter than when all 8 lanes were measured earlier. Is this a transcription error or did they tighten the lane lines?
c) Post Session 1 measurement: Lane 4 is still short. Interestingly, Lane 1 and 8 got longer by 5/8" and 3/8" respectively.
d) Post Session 2: Lane 4 is still short. Even more interesting, Lane 1 and 8 got even longer (now almost 1" longer than the start of the meet).
So, this suggests a bulkhead that is not secure or inconsistent measuring technique or transcription errors at multiple times across multiple lanes. Regardless, it is obvious that the person doing the measurement did not analyze the measurement because that should have prompted a review with the meet referee and pool personnel. USMS does not have to require the meet host to post the measurement - the swimmers can always ask to see them.
While I support the fudge factor concept for pools that are short, this case does not rise to that level. Besides, if you do a fudge factor for lanes that are short, should you do a reverse fudge factor for the lanes that are too long? And, further, at what point do you invoke the fudge factor when it has changed during the meet?
Unfortunately, in this case, although the times are official, they cannot count towards Top 10/national records because of lack-of-due-diligence while measuring the pool. It is unfortunate....
Hope this helps a little.
Good Morning Bob,
Pool measurements do get sent to the Top 10 administrator - after the meet. There is no reason to email the certificates to the Top 10 administrator before the meet because there need to be before and after measurements. This would be asking the Top 10 administrator to be available 24/7 to read numbers that the local meet personnel should be able to read and respond to. Understanding the numbers is NOT rocket science. Measuring a pool does require some skill though.
For the specific meet in question, I am looking at the pool measurement certificate(s) that were submitted. The one with raw data is illegible and incorrectly filled in. The re-submitted certificate shows the following issues:
a) All 8 lanes were measured before the meet. lane 8 is recorded as 164' 5/8" - too short. Lanes 1-7 are ok
b) Premeet recordings: Lane 8 is still short. AND, all of a sudden Lane 4 is 1" shorter than when all 8 lanes were measured earlier. Is this a transcription error or did they tighten the lane lines?
c) Post Session 1 measurement: Lane 4 is still short. Interestingly, Lane 1 and 8 got longer by 5/8" and 3/8" respectively.
d) Post Session 2: Lane 4 is still short. Even more interesting, Lane 1 and 8 got even longer (now almost 1" longer than the start of the meet).
So, this suggests a bulkhead that is not secure or inconsistent measuring technique or transcription errors at multiple times across multiple lanes. Regardless, it is obvious that the person doing the measurement did not analyze the measurement because that should have prompted a review with the meet referee and pool personnel. USMS does not have to require the meet host to post the measurement - the swimmers can always ask to see them.
While I support the fudge factor concept for pools that are short, this case does not rise to that level. Besides, if you do a fudge factor for lanes that are short, should you do a reverse fudge factor for the lanes that are too long? And, further, at what point do you invoke the fudge factor when it has changed during the meet?
Unfortunately, in this case, although the times are official, they cannot count towards Top 10/national records because of lack-of-due-diligence while measuring the pool. It is unfortunate....
Hope this helps a little.
