where are Nationals in 2009?

I carpool to Indy every summer. I'll swing down and pick you up on my way. If you want to carpool to Fresno, you can pick me up on the way through.:rofl:

It isn't the travel part: I don't mind going out west. It is the nearly inaccessible sh**hole part. Seriously. Have you been to Frenso? Okay, actually, I lied. It is the travel part. On principle, I don't think national meets should be held someplace where anyone flying from a major airport would need a connection. That means anyone who doesn't live near a major airport is looking at two, and considering people are flying across the country anyway, that seems to me too restrictive to be inclusive, which is what Masters Nats are, no? Sure, it's not quite resort material. Having said that, Bakersfield, Huron, and Coalinga are just a hop-skip-jump away from Fresno. Plenty of nightlife, culture, and entertainment within those cities.

Not at all, they really are quite close to Fresno.

Can't be flying out to the west coast too often, en famille or solo. A swimmer from New Jersey recently contacted me because she was very put out about Nationals being in Oregon. She commented about how often Nationals are on the west coast - "Why do they always have to be there?" she said, disdainfully. The comment piqued my interest. So I did a little research and found there really is a distinct trend. In the last decade, USMS held 19 Nationals. Here's the geographic breakdown by time zone: Eastern = 10 (53%) Pacific = 5 (26%) Central = 2 (11%) Mountain = 1 (5%) Hawaii = 1 (5%) The rough distribution by time zone came in about the same for Nationals I've attended - 24 since 1992 - all but three in the last decade. That includes 9 when I lived in N.J. – I escaped N.J. by car in 1998…it took about 5 days – and 15 since living in Oregon. Half of the Nationals I've attended were in the Eastern Time zone, 25% were in Pacific, and 25% were in other time zones. Between 1997 and 2007, Florida held four Nationals - more than any other state during that time period.

Poolrat is taking the fun out of my joke. Sure, Fresno is a crummy place but some genuinely nice coastal cities like Monterey, Carmel, and Pacific Grove are just a three hour drive from Fresno. In fact, one could fly into Fresno and arrange to fly out of Monterey. Just a thought.

I wasn't being disdainful. For the record - the swimmer from N.J. was not "The Fortress"

You guys just made my day. Being in Indiana and an hour away from Indy makes it so nice to get to attend LCM Nationals. Right now I only get 1 weeks vacation and it is spent going to SCY Nationals. I was able to do YMCA Nats and Master Nats this year since Y's was in Indy. That pool is awesome. I am so excited and can't wait for 2009.

I'm sorry, if you can't fly direct from one of the largest airports in the country, it is not a real airport. And it's hours' drive from any plausible choices. (I grew up in Calif.--I am familiar with Fresno.) But there's turboprop service from LA! Yay! Flights to Mejico or Canada and back shouldn't really make an airport "international" in the scope of JFK, LAX, or what not. It's a bit like Geek claiming he's a Triathlete... :duel: As for the National meets: Everyone know all the normal folks live on the eastern, non-wildfire/landslide/quake, sensible altitude (dig at colorado), original colonies portion of the country. The bulk of these meets should be on the East and much further north toboot! :2cents: Any breaststrokers are excluded from my analysis because they're much tougher and hardier than other swimmers, so they mentally prepare themselves for races by living in the danger zones! :thhbbb: Serious note...West Coast is a long haul for me...not that I have NQT's anyhow. Indy is a possibility though.

I remember a famous company that sold a master franchise to service Canada. They wanted the head office in the middle of the country (easy access they thought). They picked Regina Canada, it is in the middle of (nowhere) Canada. What a stupid move. We have three Centers for business in Canada Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal and a forth Calgary trying to be one of these. To travel 2000, 3000 miles to get somewhere is easy in this day and age. However time is of the essence. Now would you swim if the meet is 500 miles away. The only thing that would stop me is I love my car, cost of my stay, I hate hotels that charge me $200 a nite. So in stead of going to swim meets, I go to Mexico where I get an spot on the beach for $400 a month. www.bungalowslagunadeltule.com.mx/

This may be a little difficult, but have a morning session and an afternoon session like with USA-S meets. That way there are not as many people in the pool area at one time. Just a thought....