Recruiting

To touch on some of the points that Connie made in her last posting: First of all, I agree that we shouldn't inhibit the growth of USMS b/c of things like overcrowding workouts or national swim meets. Longhorn Aquatics has several locations that conduct workouts at different times....and even within one location, there are different practice times to choose from.....so like Connie said, adding more pools (i.e. locations) and workout times (and coaches for that matter to handle the larger sized teams) should be able to help manage team overcrowding sufficiently enough......As far as Nationals is concerned....Like Connie said....Make the qualifying times faster if the meet gets to large.....I for one would rather finish in a lower place but swim against faster competition at Nationals then have fewer swimmers and finish with a higher place......but that's just me speaking of course....Also just b/c we increase membership significantly does not necessarily mean that participation at Nationals will increase as significantly....the majority of the new members could very well be fitness swimmers only (as opposed to competitive swimmers) and/or triatheletes...etc....Also many of the new members may be competitive swimmers ...but not necessarily qualifiers for Nationals (with the qualifying times as they are now)....this is why I believe that a "slight" adjustment to the qualifying times to make them a little faster could help rememdy the already existing overcrowding problem at our Nationals. Finally....I just want to say that even though I am 40 years old (so no longer a starving college student)....I still don't make a lot of money (I'm a teacher for cripes sakes.....so as long as W is in office...and/or the republicans stay in power) I'm likely to be working for next to povertly level income....so just b/c GoodSmith and others can afford to spend x dollars on a nice vacation in Florida every year ...and they don't care about doubling or tripling memebership dues or meet entry fees does NOT mean that others such as myself can so easily afford the increases.....Yaeh, the annual dues are small in size compared to other things perhaps....but when you add in the monthly dues charged by our local swim teams, it would be easier on people like me to keep as many costs as possible as low as possible.....I like vacationing in Florida as much as anyone else...but I am also looking to cut as many corners as possible to be able to go at all....i.e. I drive instead of fly (although with gas prices as they are becoming this may not be such a great budget idea).....I stay in the cheaper hotels and don't have to rent a car b/c I already have my own...etc....AND I don't want to pay one cent more than I have too for entry fees......but that's me...Maybe most of the members in my age group are willing to spend money like water....Heck GoodSmith...since your so anxious to blow money in Florida....How bout buying me some drinks on the strip after the meet...afterall what's a few extra bucks on my drinks compared to the thousands you're already spending anyway?? Newmastersswimmer

To touch on some of the points that Connie made in her last posting: First of all, I agree that we shouldn't inhibit the growth of USMS b/c of things like overcrowding workouts or national swim meets. Longhorn Aquatics has several locations that conduct workouts at different times....and even within one location, there are different practice times to choose from.....so like Connie said, adding more pools (i.e. locations) and workout times (and coaches for that matter to handle the larger sized teams) should be able to help manage team overcrowding sufficiently enough......As far as Nationals is concerned....Like Connie said....Make the qualifying times faster if the meet gets to large.....I for one would rather finish in a lower place but swim against faster competition at Nationals then have fewer swimmers and finish with a higher place......but that's just me speaking of course....Also just b/c we increase membership significantly does not necessarily mean that participation at Nationals will increase as significantly....the majority of the new members could very well be fitness swimmers only (as opposed to competitive swimmers) and/or triatheletes...etc....Also many of the new members may be competitive swimmers ...but not necessarily qualifiers for Nationals (with the qualifying times as they are now)....this is why I believe that a "slight" adjustment to the qualifying times to make them a little faster could help rememdy the already existing overcrowding problem at our Nationals. Finally....I just want to say that even though I am 40 years old (so no longer a starving college student)....I still don't make a lot of money (I'm a teacher for cripes sakes.....so as long as W is in office...and/or the republicans stay in power) I'm likely to be working for next to povertly level income....so just b/c GoodSmith and others can afford to spend x dollars on a nice vacation in Florida every year ...and they don't care about doubling or tripling memebership dues or meet entry fees does NOT mean that others such as myself can so easily afford the increases.....Yaeh, the annual dues are small in size compared to other things perhaps....but when you add in the monthly dues charged by our local swim teams, it would be easier on people like me to keep as many costs as possible as low as possible.....I like vacationing in Florida as much as anyone else...but I am also looking to cut as many corners as possible to be able to go at all....i.e. I drive instead of fly (although with gas prices as they are becoming this may not be such a great budget idea).....I stay in the cheaper hotels and don't have to rent a car b/c I already have my own...etc....AND I don't want to pay one cent more than I have too for entry fees......but that's me...Maybe most of the members in my age group are willing to spend money like water....Heck GoodSmith...since your so anxious to blow money in Florida....How bout buying me some drinks on the strip after the meet...afterall what's a few extra bucks on my drinks compared to the thousands you're already spending anyway?? Newmastersswimmer