if the USMS held the Inaugural 25K Championship where
"For the past three years, several USMS swimmers have asked for a 25K open water event. This year, they finally got their wish and 45 solo swimmers signed up for this inaugural event. Twenty-six five-person relay teams (five swimmers, each swimming 5K), totaling 130 swimmers, rounded out the mix."
what's it gonna take to get 25's added to the list of events USMS recognizes?
Imagine how fun they would be?
why not bring back where we all started
like summer league 25's
Does anyone else out there wish for usms to offer and recognize 25?
Maybe if enough of us wish for 25's to be added
it will one day come true
Sign the cyber petition
Dear USMS,
YES I want USMS to offer 25's
sanction them at SC Nats and SCM meets
keep records and a yearly top 10s
Ande Rasmussen
Anyone else?
There are two constraints when conducting 25's. They aren't insurmountable, but are relevant:
1. When you have a pool with touchpads on both ends, the pool has to be measured for touchpads on both ends. Some pools aren't long enough to have touchpads on both ends (i.e., a pool could be just long enough with one set of touchpads, but becomes too short with a second set of touchpads).
2. If you opt for one set of touchpads, and make the reasonable choice of leaving them at the same end throughout the meet (not only is it a pain to move them, but all sorts of things can go wrong when you do so), the shallow end of the pool may tbe too shallow to dive in from blocks (or there may be no blocks); you may need to dive in from the deck or start from in the pool.
For me personally, I wouldn't be overjoyed for a 25 (I'm ridiculously slow at the start), and in many ways I'm still overwhelmed by the selection of events in Masters meets in comparison to when I was younger in USA Swimming. But that certainly doesn't mean that other people might not enjoy them.
As Rob noted, just because 25's and 4x25 relays aren't recognized events, it doesn't mean meets can't offer them. And I think in the end, if there's a desire to get them "officially" into the rulebook, that's the best way to do it--get meet directors to offer them at meets, get swimmers used to seeing them at meets, and then that will eventually bring consensus if done correctly.
And after all, if we can do 25's for 8 & unders (or whatever age), there's no reason we can't do 25's for everyone.
Patrick King
There are two constraints when conducting 25's. They aren't insurmountable, but are relevant:
1. When you have a pool with touchpads on both ends, the pool has to be measured for touchpads on both ends. Some pools aren't long enough to have touchpads on both ends (i.e., a pool could be just long enough with one set of touchpads, but becomes too short with a second set of touchpads).
2. If you opt for one set of touchpads, and make the reasonable choice of leaving them at the same end throughout the meet (not only is it a pain to move them, but all sorts of things can go wrong when you do so), the shallow end of the pool may tbe too shallow to dive in from blocks (or there may be no blocks); you may need to dive in from the deck or start from in the pool.
For me personally, I wouldn't be overjoyed for a 25 (I'm ridiculously slow at the start), and in many ways I'm still overwhelmed by the selection of events in Masters meets in comparison to when I was younger in USA Swimming. But that certainly doesn't mean that other people might not enjoy them.
As Rob noted, just because 25's and 4x25 relays aren't recognized events, it doesn't mean meets can't offer them. And I think in the end, if there's a desire to get them "officially" into the rulebook, that's the best way to do it--get meet directors to offer them at meets, get swimmers used to seeing them at meets, and then that will eventually bring consensus if done correctly.
And after all, if we can do 25's for 8 & unders (or whatever age), there's no reason we can't do 25's for everyone.
Patrick King
