Fritz,
As Mark pointed out the two Nationals we won in recent years were in Santa Clara, 45 minutes from Walnut Creek. And even though the meet was so close, many of the 100+ only swam one or two days... but I digress. The "home" teams always have the advantage.
'How much more fair do I want?' I think what is missing in your equation is: that just because we win or do well at meets has nothing to do with numbers of swimmers. I am the first to admit that the Bay Area has some of the finest Masters swimmers in the world, and recent statistics show we have the most in USMS. It is a high caliber swimming area. We have been able to win Nationals or be in the top 3 with 40-50 swimmers when many teams had many more swimmers. We have a lot of fast swimmers and former college and Olympic champions. That is not the issue.
The issue remains: we are a club team in every sense of the word. We should not be made to compete against whole regions or states or LMSC's. There should be a different distinction, just like gender and age groups.
We don't score men against women (that's not fair)
We don't score 85 year olds against 19 year olds. (that's not fair)
Why should we score entire regions against club teams (no matter what their size!) That's not fair either.
I didn't know that they did away with the divisions at Nationals. If that's the case this would be the perfect time to establish club teams and SUPERTEAMs.
Fritz,
As Mark pointed out the two Nationals we won in recent years were in Santa Clara, 45 minutes from Walnut Creek. And even though the meet was so close, many of the 100+ only swam one or two days... but I digress. The "home" teams always have the advantage.
'How much more fair do I want?' I think what is missing in your equation is: that just because we win or do well at meets has nothing to do with numbers of swimmers. I am the first to admit that the Bay Area has some of the finest Masters swimmers in the world, and recent statistics show we have the most in USMS. It is a high caliber swimming area. We have been able to win Nationals or be in the top 3 with 40-50 swimmers when many teams had many more swimmers. We have a lot of fast swimmers and former college and Olympic champions. That is not the issue.
The issue remains: we are a club team in every sense of the word. We should not be made to compete against whole regions or states or LMSC's. There should be a different distinction, just like gender and age groups.
We don't score men against women (that's not fair)
We don't score 85 year olds against 19 year olds. (that's not fair)
Why should we score entire regions against club teams (no matter what their size!) That's not fair either.
I didn't know that they did away with the divisions at Nationals. If that's the case this would be the perfect time to establish club teams and SUPERTEAMs.
