What Is Wrong With Swimming??

Matt - great ideas! Masters meets need to be kicked up a notch as well. Here's something we tried successfully last year and we'll be doing it again this year. I've simply included the meet info below. It's a fast, fun way to get some close team competition.... ================================================= H2O Girl Scout Cookie Pickup Dual Mock Meet - Sat May 8 ================================================= This is the 2nd installment of our new pickup dual meet format. There are SOME CHANGES from the first installment, so read on. You need only commit part of a morning, rather than a whole day, to participate. It's different! Get over it! Sign up today! Details follow (PLEASE read the whole announcement carefully before you enter as this REALLY IS different and we don't want you to enter if you can't HANDLE different!): --------------------------------------- ENTRIES --------------------------------------- Advance entries will only be taken by email. First come, first served. Entries will be limited to a maximum of 30 to keep the meet of short duration. Simply fill in the following and hit Reply (all entries will be acknowledged, upon receipt, by email). Be sure to read the EVENTS and RANKINGS topics below BEFORE you fill this out. Name: Date of Birth: Age: Sex: Ranking: (hint - the rankings are different than last time - see below) Favorite Events (see EVENTS below) 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: You DO need to list 5 events above - blank spaces may be assumed to be 200 Fly :) ------------------------------------------------------------------- What the heck does "Girl Scout Cookie Pick-up Dual Mock Meet" mean? ------------------------------------------------------------------- "DUAL" - This means there will be only TWO teams, "Team 1" and "Team A". We will NOT go by USMS team affiliations. Rather, we'll assign each entrant to one of the aforementioned teams. "PICKUP" - This means the teams will be assigned after all entries are in with an eye toward having roughly equal teams - we'll try to equalize sex, age and ability distributions across the two teams - a bit like kids choose up teams on the playground, only the Meet Director will do the choosing. Each team, once chosen, will decide which swimmers will swim each of the events offered. "MOCK MEET" - This means it's an unsanctioned, unofficial, informal, bare-bones, low overhead, no-frills, no-t-shirts, no-officials-anywhere-to-be-seen opportunity to get up on the blocks with some other like-minded people and go fast against the clock! We'll swim real races using the Colorado Timing System with horn start and touchpads but, technically, this is a USMS "practice" rather than a "meet". "GIRL SCOUT COOKIE" - The winning team will get an assortment of traditional Girl Scout Cookie favorites to share among themselves. The losers get nada. -------------------------------------- EVENTS --------------------------------------- We will NOT necessarily offer all events in this meet. Instead, we ask you to list the 5 different events you'd MOST like to see offered in the meet (in order of preference, favorite event first). All standard SCY events EXCEPT 1000 and 1650 will be considered. HOW MANY events we actually run in the meet will depend upon the number of entries. WHICH events we run will depend on popularity according to the entries. There will be only one heat of each event. However, very popular events may occur more than once in the event lineup, and each occurrence will be scored separately. For instance, if the 50 free has loads of people who want to swim it then it might show up as the 3rd event, then again as the 7th event and maybe again as the 14th event. This would allow more people to be able to swim it. There is no guarantee you'll get to swim the events you want - your list on your entry simply gives us a guideline by which to select the events that will be offered. BUT, at our last meet everyone had an opportunity to swim their first-choice event and NEARLY everyone had opportunities to swim their 2nd and 3rd choice events as well. While we offer no guarantees, between the lineup we offer and the way we'll encourage teams to assign events, the likelihood of you being able to swim two or more of your favorites is quite high. The list of events will be announced on meet day. --------------------------------------- RANKINGS --------------------------------------- So that we might distribute ability levels evenly, we ask you to rank yourself on the broad spectrum of Masters swimmers (NOT within just your sex or age group). In an 8-lane pool where the fastest people swim in the higher number lanes and the slower people swim in the lower number lanes, where would YOU be swimming? SAILFISH - definitely Lane 8, I head straight for the fast lane BLUEFIN - Lane 6 or 7 (maybe even 8 if the others are too crowded) Pretty Fast SALMON - Lane 4 or 5 - Middling Fast DOLPHIN - Lane 2 or 3 - Not so fast PIKE - definitely Lane 1 - Slow but steady --------------------------------------- COST --------------------------------------- $15 paid at check-in - checks made out to H2Ouston Swims. If you enter, then no-show, you'll be expected to pay anyway. --------------------------------------- ENTRY/CANCELLATION DEADLINE --------------------------------------- Midnight Monday prior to the meet - We need to have a minimum of 20 advance entries by then to make this event viable. If we get that, then we'll continue to accept advance entries till noon of the day before the meet, up to the entry limit of 30. You can cancel, with no obligation, until Thurs prior to the meet. We'll collect entry fees on the day of the meet. Please do not enter unless you actually plan to show up and participate. We'll consider your email entry as a commitment and uncancelled no-shows will be expected to pay anyway. No deck entries allowed. --------------------------------------- ELIGIBILITY --------------------------------------- Only 2004 USMS Members (if you are not registered in Gulf, you must bring your USMS card for proof of current registration). --------------------------------------- TOP TEN AND NQTs --------------------------------------- Because this is not a sanctioned meet, times swum will not count toward Top Ten or National Records - but they WILL count toward USMS Nationals Qualifying Times! --------------------------------------- WARMUP/PRACTICE --------------------------------------- H2O has it's normally scheduled Sat morning practice from 7-8:30am. All meet participants are welcome and encouraged to participate in the H2O practice prior to the meet. We'll have several lanes available for free-form warm-up throughout the 7-8:30am period. ------------------------------------------ MEET DAY SCHEDULE ------------------------------------------ Check-in & Warm-up begins: 7:00am Teams and Events announced: 7:00am Check-in closes: 8:30am Team Meeting Period: 8:30 - 9:00 (or earlier if teams are finished picking events) Turn in event assignments: 9:00am First event starts: 9:05am ------------------------------------------ MEET FROMAT ------------------------------------------ On meet day we'll announce 2 teams, chosen with an eye toward even ability, sex and age distribution. Each team elects a pair of team co-captains and chooses an original team name. Team then has a limited time to sign up for the events they wish to swim according to the following rules: 1) No person may swim more than 4 events 2) No event may have more than 4 swimmers from one team 3) No person may swim the same event twice (even though the same event may appear in the lineup more than once) 4) Co-Captains have final say on event assignments (with strong focus on making sure each swimmer gets to swim at least a couple of the events they really want to swim). ---------------------------- TIMING/COUNTING ---------------------------- CTS5 Electronic timing will be used. Swimmers wishing for backup should ask a teammate to man the back-up button and stopwatch supplied during their swim (this is STRONGLY suggested as there are MANY times in meets where the back-up times are used, and without a back-up time you have NO time). For the 500, lap counter paddles will be supplied - each team must furnish people to wield said paddles to their teammates' advantage. ------------------------ SCORING ------------------------ The meet will be scored such that every swim earns points. Scoring will be by place only, NOT by sex or age group. (Seems unfair, I know, BUT when we assign the teams we'll shoot for similar age and sex distributions on each team so it should work out pretty fairly.) ------------------------ RULES ------------------------ Applicable 2004 USMS Rules will be in effect. However, there will be no officials so this is strictly on the honor system. You will be honor-bound to DQ yourself if you break the rules (what a novel idea in 21st Century America) - think "Boy Scout". ------------------------ RESULTS ------------------------ Times/Splits for every heat will be posted immediately after each event, barring timing system malfunctions. They'll be posted by swimmer name, event and lane. ------------------------ PRIZES ------------------------ Winning team gets an assortment of traditional Girl Scout Cookie favorites to share among themselves. Hey - I said this was a no-frills meet. ------------------------ FINAL NOTES ------------------------ Our goal is to have the meet portion of the morning completed in under 2 hours total. With each installment of this meet we'll tweak it to make it better! Your comments are welcome and encouraged!

Matt - great ideas! Masters meets need to be kicked up a notch as well. Here's something we tried successfully last year and we'll be doing it again this year. I've simply included the meet info below. It's a fast, fun way to get some close team competition.... ================================================= H2O Girl Scout Cookie Pickup Dual Mock Meet - Sat May 8 ================================================= This is the 2nd installment of our new pickup dual meet format. There are SOME CHANGES from the first installment, so read on. You need only commit part of a morning, rather than a whole day, to participate. It's different! Get over it! Sign up today! Details follow (PLEASE read the whole announcement carefully before you enter as this REALLY IS different and we don't want you to enter if you can't HANDLE different!): --------------------------------------- ENTRIES --------------------------------------- Advance entries will only be taken by email. First come, first served. Entries will be limited to a maximum of 30 to keep the meet of short duration. Simply fill in the following and hit Reply (all entries will be acknowledged, upon receipt, by email). Be sure to read the EVENTS and RANKINGS topics below BEFORE you fill this out. Name: Date of Birth: Age: Sex: Ranking: (hint - the rankings are different than last time - see below) Favorite Events (see EVENTS below) 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: You DO need to list 5 events above - blank spaces may be assumed to be 200 Fly :) ------------------------------------------------------------------- What the heck does "Girl Scout Cookie Pick-up Dual Mock Meet" mean? ------------------------------------------------------------------- "DUAL" - This means there will be only TWO teams, "Team 1" and "Team A". We will NOT go by USMS team affiliations. Rather, we'll assign each entrant to one of the aforementioned teams. "PICKUP" - This means the teams will be assigned after all entries are in with an eye toward having roughly equal teams - we'll try to equalize sex, age and ability distributions across the two teams - a bit like kids choose up teams on the playground, only the Meet Director will do the choosing. Each team, once chosen, will decide which swimmers will swim each of the events offered. "MOCK MEET" - This means it's an unsanctioned, unofficial, informal, bare-bones, low overhead, no-frills, no-t-shirts, no-officials-anywhere-to-be-seen opportunity to get up on the blocks with some other like-minded people and go fast against the clock! We'll swim real races using the Colorado Timing System with horn start and touchpads but, technically, this is a USMS "practice" rather than a "meet". "GIRL SCOUT COOKIE" - The winning team will get an assortment of traditional Girl Scout Cookie favorites to share among themselves. The losers get nada. -------------------------------------- EVENTS --------------------------------------- We will NOT necessarily offer all events in this meet. Instead, we ask you to list the 5 different events you'd MOST like to see offered in the meet (in order of preference, favorite event first). All standard SCY events EXCEPT 1000 and 1650 will be considered. HOW MANY events we actually run in the meet will depend upon the number of entries. WHICH events we run will depend on popularity according to the entries. There will be only one heat of each event. However, very popular events may occur more than once in the event lineup, and each occurrence will be scored separately. For instance, if the 50 free has loads of people who want to swim it then it might show up as the 3rd event, then again as the 7th event and maybe again as the 14th event. This would allow more people to be able to swim it. There is no guarantee you'll get to swim the events you want - your list on your entry simply gives us a guideline by which to select the events that will be offered. BUT, at our last meet everyone had an opportunity to swim their first-choice event and NEARLY everyone had opportunities to swim their 2nd and 3rd choice events as well. While we offer no guarantees, between the lineup we offer and the way we'll encourage teams to assign events, the likelihood of you being able to swim two or more of your favorites is quite high. The list of events will be announced on meet day. --------------------------------------- RANKINGS --------------------------------------- So that we might distribute ability levels evenly, we ask you to rank yourself on the broad spectrum of Masters swimmers (NOT within just your sex or age group). In an 8-lane pool where the fastest people swim in the higher number lanes and the slower people swim in the lower number lanes, where would YOU be swimming? SAILFISH - definitely Lane 8, I head straight for the fast lane BLUEFIN - Lane 6 or 7 (maybe even 8 if the others are too crowded) Pretty Fast SALMON - Lane 4 or 5 - Middling Fast DOLPHIN - Lane 2 or 3 - Not so fast PIKE - definitely Lane 1 - Slow but steady --------------------------------------- COST --------------------------------------- $15 paid at check-in - checks made out to H2Ouston Swims. If you enter, then no-show, you'll be expected to pay anyway. --------------------------------------- ENTRY/CANCELLATION DEADLINE --------------------------------------- Midnight Monday prior to the meet - We need to have a minimum of 20 advance entries by then to make this event viable. If we get that, then we'll continue to accept advance entries till noon of the day before the meet, up to the entry limit of 30. You can cancel, with no obligation, until Thurs prior to the meet. We'll collect entry fees on the day of the meet. Please do not enter unless you actually plan to show up and participate. We'll consider your email entry as a commitment and uncancelled no-shows will be expected to pay anyway. No deck entries allowed. --------------------------------------- ELIGIBILITY --------------------------------------- Only 2004 USMS Members (if you are not registered in Gulf, you must bring your USMS card for proof of current registration). --------------------------------------- TOP TEN AND NQTs --------------------------------------- Because this is not a sanctioned meet, times swum will not count toward Top Ten or National Records - but they WILL count toward USMS Nationals Qualifying Times! --------------------------------------- WARMUP/PRACTICE --------------------------------------- H2O has it's normally scheduled Sat morning practice from 7-8:30am. All meet participants are welcome and encouraged to participate in the H2O practice prior to the meet. We'll have several lanes available for free-form warm-up throughout the 7-8:30am period. ------------------------------------------ MEET DAY SCHEDULE ------------------------------------------ Check-in & Warm-up begins: 7:00am Teams and Events announced: 7:00am Check-in closes: 8:30am Team Meeting Period: 8:30 - 9:00 (or earlier if teams are finished picking events) Turn in event assignments: 9:00am First event starts: 9:05am ------------------------------------------ MEET FROMAT ------------------------------------------ On meet day we'll announce 2 teams, chosen with an eye toward even ability, sex and age distribution. Each team elects a pair of team co-captains and chooses an original team name. Team then has a limited time to sign up for the events they wish to swim according to the following rules: 1) No person may swim more than 4 events 2) No event may have more than 4 swimmers from one team 3) No person may swim the same event twice (even though the same event may appear in the lineup more than once) 4) Co-Captains have final say on event assignments (with strong focus on making sure each swimmer gets to swim at least a couple of the events they really want to swim). ---------------------------- TIMING/COUNTING ---------------------------- CTS5 Electronic timing will be used. Swimmers wishing for backup should ask a teammate to man the back-up button and stopwatch supplied during their swim (this is STRONGLY suggested as there are MANY times in meets where the back-up times are used, and without a back-up time you have NO time). For the 500, lap counter paddles will be supplied - each team must furnish people to wield said paddles to their teammates' advantage. ------------------------ SCORING ------------------------ The meet will be scored such that every swim earns points. Scoring will be by place only, NOT by sex or age group. (Seems unfair, I know, BUT when we assign the teams we'll shoot for similar age and sex distributions on each team so it should work out pretty fairly.) ------------------------ RULES ------------------------ Applicable 2004 USMS Rules will be in effect. However, there will be no officials so this is strictly on the honor system. You will be honor-bound to DQ yourself if you break the rules (what a novel idea in 21st Century America) - think "Boy Scout". ------------------------ RESULTS ------------------------ Times/Splits for every heat will be posted immediately after each event, barring timing system malfunctions. They'll be posted by swimmer name, event and lane. ------------------------ PRIZES ------------------------ Winning team gets an assortment of traditional Girl Scout Cookie favorites to share among themselves. Hey - I said this was a no-frills meet. ------------------------ FINAL NOTES ------------------------ Our goal is to have the meet portion of the morning completed in under 2 hours total. With each installment of this meet we'll tweak it to make it better! Your comments are welcome and encouraged!