I've spent a little time looking over this site
to find out how much I don't know about the
current Masters Swimming scene.
And also, what I might be able to
do to become competitive.
Something quite new seems to be races
that are only one-length of a short-course pool.
25 Yards and 25 Meters.
Where is the organization going with that ?
Will they be considered
for Top-Ten rankings ?
How did it get started ?
Old-N-Slow
Here in the mid-Atlantic states, there are a lot of older non-regulation pools.
There are quite a few 33-yard pools, often at summer swim clubs.
There are a number of 55-yard pools. UPenn has one for example. I think the idea behind these is that a 1650 is 30 lengths, making it analogous to a LCM 1500.
Some summer league teams swim in SCM pools.
There is a 49-yard pool not far from my home.
In the mid-west, some older HS pools are 20-yards. (I seem to remember a news story from a year or two back about some college coach who put the bulkhead at 20 yards for a meet so they could have fun breaking a lot of very old records set in 20 yard pools.)
While I understand the appeal of having standardized pools for record-keeping and direct comparison, I think it would be great fun if swim meets were held in these non-standard pools. It would add variety and shift the emphasis from times more towards meet strategy and racing. Wouldn't an 80 IM or 132 IM be fun?! How about sprint races in a 15-yard diving well? Us slow-twitch folks wouldn't be rushing to sign up, but I bet they would be quite popular with the drop dead sprinters. I know a local coach had blocks set up in the diving well to practice starts and for sprint training. (ULTRA usrpt!) The term "pool record" would take on a new significance.
Here in the mid-Atlantic states, there are a lot of older non-regulation pools.
There are quite a few 33-yard pools, often at summer swim clubs.
There are a number of 55-yard pools. UPenn has one for example. I think the idea behind these is that a 1650 is 30 lengths, making it analogous to a LCM 1500.
Some summer league teams swim in SCM pools.
There is a 49-yard pool not far from my home.
In the mid-west, some older HS pools are 20-yards. (I seem to remember a news story from a year or two back about some college coach who put the bulkhead at 20 yards for a meet so they could have fun breaking a lot of very old records set in 20 yard pools.)
While I understand the appeal of having standardized pools for record-keeping and direct comparison, I think it would be great fun if swim meets were held in these non-standard pools. It would add variety and shift the emphasis from times more towards meet strategy and racing. Wouldn't an 80 IM or 132 IM be fun?! How about sprint races in a 15-yard diving well? Us slow-twitch folks wouldn't be rushing to sign up, but I bet they would be quite popular with the drop dead sprinters. I know a local coach had blocks set up in the diving well to practice starts and for sprint training. (ULTRA usrpt!) The term "pool record" would take on a new significance.
