Registration extension at Worlds

I could not agree more. They are dealing with a huge budget and need all of our support. I hope they are able to pick-up an additional 750 to 1000 swimmers with the extension!!!!!!

"confusion of last minute entries" Right, drip'n'wet, it's not about anyone's "confusion." It's about the money, much like the unilateral decision to reward Speedo an "exclusive" at the meet for their years of ignoring USMS. Only, that wasn't really about the money because no one else got to bid! But, this IS about the money.

I think these are good points, Steve, but adults should also be more capable of eating their registration fee if it turns out they can't go to a meet. The meet organizers should try to make the entry deadline as close to the meet as possible, but there still needs to be a deadline.

If you are willing to accept that, in general, people have reasons for why they do what they do, it is not a big surprise that we see the behaviour we see. Kids lives are much less complicated than adults lives. They can make committments for a meet farther in advance with confidence that they will be able to go (no unexpected business trips, etc.) Adults have many more possible reasons that they cannot predict a month in advance if they will be in shape and or able to attend a meet. One bad week at work could throw off your training, family schedules can easily confilct with the meet, the wind is blowing and you decide to go sailing instead, etc... Thus they reasonably decide to enter at the last minute if they enter at all. So why ask adults to commit so far in advance? I suppose the logistical needs of the meet dictate this at times. Programs need to be printed. Goody bags need to be prepared, etc. What if there were a fee to reserve registration by an early date (to cover some fixed costs and to get an idea of how many people will be there) and a second fee to enter with as late a deadline as feasible? I don't want to make it too complicated. (Too late for that?).

Then why do we have any deadlines for entries? Why not just cap the number of swimmers a facility can reasonably handle (so no one has to swim an 800 at 8 pm) and accept all entries until that number is reached? The intention here is not necessarily to make as much money as possible but to provide the best conditions for the swimmers. Not that this matters or is relevant or is an argument I want to continue, but I don't have any problem with anyone making money. I have a problem with deceit.

At the New England Masters championship, we have implemented a late entry policy. For our spring meet, we end up with around 700 swimmers or so. There is a "regular entry deadline" of a certain date for the regular price. After that, there is a late penalty (currently an extra $16) if you enter after the regular deadline, but before the "final deadline". The final deadline is usually one week before the meet. We also set a cap on the size of the meet. We let anyone who enters by the regular deadline in, no matter what. We only take "late entries" if space allows. -Rick

Originally posted by onlyfree Then why do we have any deadlines for entries? Why not just cap the number of swimmers a facility can reasonably handle (so no one has to swim an 800 at 8 pm) and accept all entries until that number is reached? If you did that for nationals, then you would receive 1500 entries the day before the meet, which is impossible to deal with. -Rick

Give us an update. What kind of response has there been since the deadline has been extended? What kind of numbers are we looking at? When is the new official deadline to close entries? The deadline was not extended. I don't know what you read to get that impression. The following was copied and pasted from the Pacific Masters Update of June 18, 2006: WORLDS We are still working on totalling up the entries, so far there are 7,100 entries from over 75 countries. Over 5,400 athletes will be competing in swimming and 900 swimming will be competing in open water. There are 75 water polo teams with 14 women's water polo teams (at Riccione, there were only 2 women's teams). Of the 5,400 athletes in swimming, 1,400 are from Pacific Masters. Worlds will be the largest swim meet held in the United States. It is also the largest Master's meet held in the United States. Stanford will keep the record as the place of the largest meet as it will be superseding the 1987 USMS Short Course Championships where 2328 swimmers competed.

Give us an update. What kind of response has there been since the deadline has been extended? What kind of numbers are we looking at? When is the new official deadline to close entries?

Jim Maybe the reason people might think there is an extension to the deadline is the name of this thread - Registration extension at Worlds and who started the thread Michael W. Moore, chairman XI FINA World Masters Organizing Committee and he states Due to the confusion of last minute entries, we realized that not everyone who wanted to enter was able to. If you were unable to complete an entry by 3 June, you may fax your entry to 01 650 852 9383 Seems pretty clear to me there is an extension. What's not clear is how long it will last.