There's no easy way to draw a line.
Note that this happens in USA Swimming, too.
Here in New England, we had four "regular sized" teams all merge under a single team name a couple years ago. They now compete as a single team. They swim at four (or more) different pools. Here in New England, that was sort of a big thing. And I have no idea how their finances work.
My girlfriend, who currently lives in the Boston area, grew up swimming in Atlanta, GA. She was really surprised at all of the little bitty teams we have in club swimming in New England. In Atlanta, there are, basically, SwimAtlanta and Dynamo. According to their web sites, SwimAtlanta swims at 5 different pools, and Dynamo swims at two facilities. (Note however that Dynamo built and owns their own facilities, each of which has at least two pools, I think one of them has three pools.) So for someone from Atlanta, the concept of these little bitty teams fighting for pool space was very strange.
Even here in New England for masters, I swim for Cambridge Masters Swim Club, which is really a 'workout group' part of the New England Masters club. However, even our 'workout group' swims at three different pools in the course of a 1-week workout schedule.
What's the difference between a 'real club' and a 'super-club'? Impossible to say.
-Rick
There's no easy way to draw a line.
Note that this happens in USA Swimming, too.
Here in New England, we had four "regular sized" teams all merge under a single team name a couple years ago. They now compete as a single team. They swim at four (or more) different pools. Here in New England, that was sort of a big thing. And I have no idea how their finances work.
My girlfriend, who currently lives in the Boston area, grew up swimming in Atlanta, GA. She was really surprised at all of the little bitty teams we have in club swimming in New England. In Atlanta, there are, basically, SwimAtlanta and Dynamo. According to their web sites, SwimAtlanta swims at 5 different pools, and Dynamo swims at two facilities. (Note however that Dynamo built and owns their own facilities, each of which has at least two pools, I think one of them has three pools.) So for someone from Atlanta, the concept of these little bitty teams fighting for pool space was very strange.
Even here in New England for masters, I swim for Cambridge Masters Swim Club, which is really a 'workout group' part of the New England Masters club. However, even our 'workout group' swims at three different pools in the course of a 1-week workout schedule.
What's the difference between a 'real club' and a 'super-club'? Impossible to say.
-Rick
