Should Masters Hold a Short Course Meters National Championship?

Just one other word about the December time frame. I don't know how many educators are master swimmers, but I'm betting there are quite a few. If their systems are anything like mine a meet held in the middle of December would be impossible to attend as employees are not allowed to take personal leave before a scheduled holiday. The week after Christmas would probably be perfect for educators as most have not returned to work then. Of course there will never be a 'perfect' time for every masters swimmer.

Matt......you nailed it !

Here's a thought - what if USMS were to hold a single short course National championship, alternating each year between SCY and SCM?

I'll chime in to support Phil's position. I don't believe that under the current national championship format that USMS can support three quality national championships per year. Having said that, I think there is great merit in giving bidders for SCY Championships the option of offering the SCM (we would then rename then Short Course Championship). I believe that quite a few swimmers (me included) would welcome the chance to swim SCM head-to-head against fellow SCM competitors--at a national meet. Add New England to the regions that currently offer a high quality SCM regional meet. Last year, we had 300+ competitors and our SCM meets are growing at better than 10% a year. And it just so happens that in my age group (50-54) the regional competiton is very intense--so I can't really complain about lack of head-to-head competition.

First to Bert,just because some people can't whip kick is no reason to cast aspersions on the most elegant stroke! Second, I don't think december is a good time to have a SCM Championship. It is too close to the holidays, for me at least, to plan to travel across country.Perhaps between october 15 & november 10 would work. I'd certainly like to see another big meet where swimming was more important than turning.

Although there are no perfect scenarios, it appears that there is quite a bit of support/interest in adding a third national championship to USMS's calender. I'm sure there are more challenges and headaches than can be imagined (thanks for sharing that with me at the end of a painful 100m free Michael!), but I like to look at this with a "glass is half full" mindset and see if we can do it vs. rule it out because of its challenges!

Greetings- One thought why it might be a good idea to have a SCM Champinship would be it may encourage more participation. Not many people have the opportunity to swim in SCM, so this might be an incentive to have it. Just one man's opinion. Thanks, CJ:D

For what it's worth, I personally would like to see the SCM and SCY seasons switched. This would allow people an opportunity to age up and swim SCM while still underage and allow them to go for records, and would allow more people to age up by SCY season. It would also get us in sync with SCM seasons in other countries and be an easier transition than going from SCY to LCM.

I didn't vote, But think having three nationals in three different time slots is not realistic. For those of you pointing a finger at the poll results saying "there is a desire" are only looking at popularity side of the equation. LC Nationals in Rutgers deadline was delayed b/c they needed more swimmers to pay for the meet. We do not need yet a third event to dillute this pool further. I have a separate idea which I am posting in its own thread. Click Here to read about my suggestion to hold SCY and SCM Championships at the same time.

I voted for the SCM National Championship between 11/15 and 12/31 because I think it would be a good opportunity for swimmers who want to go to a National meet at that time or who do not have a local meet they can or want to attend. There are good quality SCM meets all over and I don't think having a SCM National meet will change that. There are also good quality SCY meets too. People will go where they can when they can and may not go every year - regardless of whether we are talking about SCY, LCM or SCM. I think it's a good idea to have more choices for people regarding meets. The zone, LMSC championships and other great meets vary in timing from mid-October to mid-December now. Leave the timing as is. I like swimming SCY in the winter/spring (the only pools open here are SCY - and a few SCM but not many), LCM in the summer (the only time when LC pools are open here in the chilly Northeast) and SCM season in the fall/winter (as discussed above, a few pools are SCM but you are also still working off the LCM base you built in the summer).