I'll be there. I'll probably be carrying my shoulder in a wheelbarrow and cursing how fast the turns come in a SCY pool,but I'll be there. The pool is great and the people are great(especially you forumites) so I wouldn't miss it.(It's also an easy drive for me and my youngest son is in college near there.) A word of warning,although the Seattle area is great and the Pacific Northwest is gorgeous,Federal Way is basically a combination of strip malls and truckstops.:thhbbb: As far as the meet goes though:banana: :banana: :banana:
Any suggestions for parks or sightseeing in the region near Federal Way?
There's not much around Federal Way, most of the parks I know of are south around Olympia and Mt. Rainer, or north.
But definatley go check out the Puget Sound. You can probably find a sightseeing tour that will take you around to all the good places. Definatley check out Seattle too if you've never been. It's about 30 minutes north but totally worth it. There's lots of public transportation to get around too, if you dont' have a car.
A couple of questions...
Does anyone know what the side of the pool is like for open turns? Hand holds or flat surface (like at Worlds)?
Also, I'm not sure I can make the general meeting. What will I miss? (This is my first Nationals!!:groovy: )
The pool is freaking fantastic! You'll be fine for open turns. The gutter drains directly out from the pool surface, and there's a bulkhead with an opening at about the same level in the middle (making it SCY). So no hand holds, but you can get a good grip.
If anyone is interested in driving to Mt. Rainier please keep in mind May is very early in the season and many roads won't be open at that time. The road to Paradise is usually open year-round, but was damaged by massive flooding due to a huge rainstorm the Park got last November. They are hoping to get the road open on May 5th: seattletimes.nwsource.com/.../2003664877_rainier13m0.html
Even if you can get to Paradise, keep in mind there will still be a lot of snow on the ground there. If you don't have snowshoes you probably won't be able to do much hiking.
I'll be there! Flying out late, late, late Tuesday night. Looking forward to touring around Seattle on Wednesday & warming up that night.
Entered the 1000 as my 6th event... not sure if I really wanted to start the meet with a long one, so I'm leaving the decision up to fate. Also entered all the 50's and the 100IM.:banana:
