The World Championships will be a long meet spread over many days. I have a couple of free days between my races, as I am sure many others do too. Obviously we need to get in the water to practice/warm-up on these days. While at the USMS Nationals in Coral Springs I heard we will not be able to use the facilities at Avery Aquatic Center if we are not racing on that particular day. If that is true, where will we be able to swim (preferably in a LC pool) on our non-race days?
Originally posted by Nancy Ridout
...You need to also understand that once an event is called, the swimmers will report to the marshalling area and from that point on no one will have access to them except the Clerk of the Course and the other competitors in the event. Not even those allowed to be on the deck will be able to be in that area. That is standard procedure at World Championships....
Hope this is a help.
Nancy
Nancy,
At the risk of hijacking the thread, may I ask about how "marshalling" works? If you are entered in a long event like the 800 Free, does this mean that you'll be sitting around for a long time until it is time for your heat? Can you still warm up after you've been "marshalled"?
The credentials area will open as soon as the gate opens for warmups in the morning. You will get your picture taken, among other things, so be prepared for not being able to walk up to a table, pick up a goody bag, and walk out in the space of 2 minutes. It may take 5 or maybe more.
Competitors will be called to marshalling area by heats, when the event before it is close to finishing. A certain number of heats will go into the marshalling area, after being checked in by the Clerk of Course (everyone will need to have his or her credentials with them at all times to get into the pool or the marshalling area). There will be 7 or 8 rows of 10 chairs. The competitors will sit in the seat corresponding to each one's lane number and move up a row each time the first row leaves to the rows of chairs behind the blocks - usually 2.
You keep moving up until it's your turn to swim. There will be containers for your gear when you get to the row of chairs right behind the blocks. Fewer heats will be marshalled ahead of time for the longer events than for the sprints. But Frosty is right in that you should prepare to be in the area for about 30 minutes. You will not be allowed to leave to warmup but you may be able to convince the Clerk of Course that a pit stop is an emergency. Add the amount of time that you'll be anxious about not missing when your heat needs to report and standing around so you're there when it's called and you can add even more time to the 30.
International competition is much more structured in ways like this than USMS swimmers are used to. We are definitely more informal and loose about showing up behind the block before it's your turn to compete.
Nancy
Originally posted by Nancy Ridout
International competition is much more structured in ways like this than USMS swimmers are used to. We are definitely more informal and loose about showing up behind the block before it's your turn to compete.
Nancy
Indeed. I went to a meet in Sydney, Australia, and it worked the same way, though they let you walk a few yards from the marshaling area to watch the meet or stretch somewhere else after you sign in.
I can understand the reasons for it. It keeps the starting ends less crowded. It creates some sense of order. But I think 30 minutes is a bit long to be sitting in the marshaling area. I wonder how long the Olympians have to sit in the room before parading out. I think it's 15 minutes.
Frosty- based on my admittedly dated experience at Brisbane for the Worlds, you'll be 'marshalled' (sequestered) for at least half an hour with no access to pool, bathroom nor radar suppression munitions.
Allen and Ian,
You might want to start practicing not having to go to the bathroom 3 times in 30 minutes. That definitely won't work.
No one is going to stand over you and make you sit in the chair; you'll be able to stand up or "bounce and jump" as long as you stay in the vicinity of your row. Actually, once you get into the marshalling area, you'll be moving up pretty quickly - and now I have to go to the bathroom!
Nancy
Allen- again, in Brisbane, they let Allen Christiansen, the very fast Swedish breastroker do barely-in-control wind sprints in the hallway outside the marshalling area while the rest of us glowered at each other. Every few seconds you would see him blur by the door, extremely long hair trailing behind him as he zoomed back and forth. Kind of surreal...
Are we going to have to SIT in chairs the entire time? Anyone who has seen me at a meet knows I bounce and jump for 30 min before I swim as part of my warm up. Also I will probably need at least 3 emergency pit stops in that time.(Yes,I get really excited about swimming)
