I just looked at a number of age groups, male and female, and between approx 33%-40% of all top times this year were achieved at Nationals, even higher if you throw in top times from Y Nationals. Further, if you take the 2 minutes needed to look at all-time top times, it's easy to see that a high percentage are achieved at National competition. This isn't to argue there isn't great swimming at Zones or other smaller meets, just bolsters the assertion that Nationals tend to bring out not only the best swimmers, but also the best times.
Please note my numbers are from a quick and cursory look, not the detailed investigation that knelson might do. Still, the number of top times from Nats is impressive.
I just looked at a number of age groups, male and female, and between approx 33%-40% of all top times this year were achieved at Nationals, even higher if you throw in top times from Y Nationals. Further, if you take the 2 minutes needed to look at all-time top times, it's easy to see that a high percentage are achieved at National competition. This isn't to argue there isn't great swimming at Zones or other smaller meets, just bolsters the assertion that Nationals tend to bring out not only the best swimmers, but also the best times.
Please note my numbers are from a quick and cursory look, not the detailed investigation that knelson might do. Still, the number of top times from Nats is impressive.
