OK Paul, I'll bite. I was one of the few (the proud . . .) who voted SCM or SCY but not both.
First, I know myself best, and generalize to others from that. I am not able, because of family and work and money, to travel to more than one national meet a year. If I am at all typical that means that many swimmers will have to choose which meets to attend, and which meets to not attend. This will reduce the number of swimmers at the meets and reduce the competitiveness of the current two national championships. That would make all of the meets less attractive and less fun to attend. It would also reduce my justification when I brag at the company lunch table. "Well yeah, there were only four swimmers in the event . . ." In that scenario the top ten list becomes even more a measure of 'how well' one is swimming. And while I like the top ten list, it is pretty impersonal and not as fun as a competitive championship.
There are lots of good SCM meets already. For me these have/could include the SPMA meet, Pacific championships, and the IGLA world championships, all of which are relatively close to where I live. It think it is valuable to have quality local meets and a championship would reduce their importance and competitiveness. These meets are a good opportunity to get new swimmers involved, and mixing with 'elite' swimmers, without qualifying times.
There is no way I could attend a meet in December. Work and family are just too intense at that time. I find it difficult to figure out when the meet could be held outside of that time. I like to work out hard, when I get a chance to work out, and more big meets would force taper on me more than I would like. A third meet would interfere with some team activities in the winter that I find enjoyable.
I do not have the time to run one of these championship meets, and find it difficult to ask another person to do the work for me. We have already heard how difficult it is to get hosts for these meets. Going back to my first point, for the hosts it is not clear if a smaller meet (more feasible, less work) is better or worse than a larger meet (more income), so a third meet may make it easier or harder to get the other two hosted - that is a big unknown.
If anything, I would prefer getting rid of SCY championships altogether, and replace them with a SCM meet. That would get us in line with the rest of the world and increase the quality of the world records. But I am not much of a traditionalist.
Finally, I swim both sprint and distance fly, *and* backstroke. Both the high and the low, I suppose. I never did like to be stereotyped.
OK Paul, I'll bite. I was one of the few (the proud . . .) who voted SCM or SCY but not both.
First, I know myself best, and generalize to others from that. I am not able, because of family and work and money, to travel to more than one national meet a year. If I am at all typical that means that many swimmers will have to choose which meets to attend, and which meets to not attend. This will reduce the number of swimmers at the meets and reduce the competitiveness of the current two national championships. That would make all of the meets less attractive and less fun to attend. It would also reduce my justification when I brag at the company lunch table. "Well yeah, there were only four swimmers in the event . . ." In that scenario the top ten list becomes even more a measure of 'how well' one is swimming. And while I like the top ten list, it is pretty impersonal and not as fun as a competitive championship.
There are lots of good SCM meets already. For me these have/could include the SPMA meet, Pacific championships, and the IGLA world championships, all of which are relatively close to where I live. It think it is valuable to have quality local meets and a championship would reduce their importance and competitiveness. These meets are a good opportunity to get new swimmers involved, and mixing with 'elite' swimmers, without qualifying times.
There is no way I could attend a meet in December. Work and family are just too intense at that time. I find it difficult to figure out when the meet could be held outside of that time. I like to work out hard, when I get a chance to work out, and more big meets would force taper on me more than I would like. A third meet would interfere with some team activities in the winter that I find enjoyable.
I do not have the time to run one of these championship meets, and find it difficult to ask another person to do the work for me. We have already heard how difficult it is to get hosts for these meets. Going back to my first point, for the hosts it is not clear if a smaller meet (more feasible, less work) is better or worse than a larger meet (more income), so a third meet may make it easier or harder to get the other two hosted - that is a big unknown.
If anything, I would prefer getting rid of SCY championships altogether, and replace them with a SCM meet. That would get us in line with the rest of the world and increase the quality of the world records. But I am not much of a traditionalist.
Finally, I swim both sprint and distance fly, *and* backstroke. Both the high and the low, I suppose. I never did like to be stereotyped.
