Will someone please explain how a national record can be faster than a world record?
For example, in the women's 30-34 age group - there are several world records that are slower than national records.
Lizzie,
I'm guessing your question is how can a USMS Masters record be faster than the FINA Masters record. In most cases, this occurs when a USMS swimmer breaks a record during a USS meet. FINA requires Masters world records to take place in a sanctioned Masters competition. USMS has no such restriction.
A fair number of masters swimmers (myself included) compete in USS meets throughout the year. As faster competition produces faster times, it's quite likely that swimmers like Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen or Ron Karnaugh will go faster in these USS meets than a Masters meet. Hence, we have USMS records that are faster than their FINA counterparts.
As examples of what Lizzie is talking about:
Ron has the 35-39 200 LCM *** national record at 2:21 while the world record is a 2:24
Nadine Day set the world record at Rutgers yesterday in the 30-34 200 LCM IM with a 2:25 while Karlyn has the national record at 2:23.
Hope that helps clear things up...I'll let someone else explain the logic behind it all.
-Jason
Another way a World Record can be slower than a USMS National Record is if the swim was not at a masters sanctioned meet. If a USMS registered swimmer swims in USA meets such as Olympic Trials or USA Nationals and breaks both USMS and World Records, the record will count as only a USMS record because USMS will recognize it as long as the paper work and USMS rules were followed. This is not the case with FINA. A World Record must be established at a Masters meet and this includes not only USMS sanctioned meets but any sanctioned meet by a country in good standing with FINA. Masters meets that are sanctioned by governing bodies around the world are the only ones good for World Records. I believe this change happened about 5 or 6 years ago and FINA stripped all people that had World Recods that were not set in Masters meets. Walt Reid would know the exact details about this and when the changes took place.
