Saw one of the more interesting articles about the past, present, and future aspects of competitive swimming on SwimInfo's website the other day from Wayne Goldsmith..
www.swiminfo.com/.../7720.asp
I think it provokes a great deal of thought in this arena and specifically within this group since many of us either participate, have friends/relatives who participate, or remember participating in competitive swim meets.
I particularly appreciate the parents perspective provided in the article. While I have little children (5 and almost 3 years old), the thought of going through what my parents did with me makes me hesitate to sign up for the first set of SwimAmerica lessons or summer club swim team to introduce them to swimming. While I swam through my school age years, I didn't really consider just what my parents had to go through right along with me.. I was always thinking about what i was going through. Wow!
Check out the article and see what you think...
Rob
Parents
Former Member
Originally posted by Bob McAdams
Keep in mind that it is not unheard of for a team to have a practice meet. The kids' swim team at the YMCA where I swim does this each fall, partly to give new swimmers a chance to get the feel of what it's like to be at a meet before going to one that counts. They divide their team into three groups, which are matched for age, sex, and swimming ability, and then have them compete in an unofficial meet.
So I don't think that calling it a "meet" would disqualify it as being "practice".
Seems to me that anything saying it has a meet director is a meet. I really don't care and if those running it, the pool management and the swimmers don't have any concern then there's no issue. At least until they serve hot coffee at the meet.
Maybe a better question to ask is why can't we sanction meets that don't adhere to the norm? I'm pretty sure it's got to do with insurance. What makes a 500 back or *** less certifiable than the 500 free? Anyone out there on the insurance committee?
Originally posted by Bob McAdams
Keep in mind that it is not unheard of for a team to have a practice meet. The kids' swim team at the YMCA where I swim does this each fall, partly to give new swimmers a chance to get the feel of what it's like to be at a meet before going to one that counts. They divide their team into three groups, which are matched for age, sex, and swimming ability, and then have them compete in an unofficial meet.
So I don't think that calling it a "meet" would disqualify it as being "practice".
Seems to me that anything saying it has a meet director is a meet. I really don't care and if those running it, the pool management and the swimmers don't have any concern then there's no issue. At least until they serve hot coffee at the meet.
Maybe a better question to ask is why can't we sanction meets that don't adhere to the norm? I'm pretty sure it's got to do with insurance. What makes a 500 back or *** less certifiable than the 500 free? Anyone out there on the insurance committee?
