So, now that we are on the countdown to May 09 - who is coming and what do you plan to swim?
This will be my first US Master's National meet, and it happens to be happening in my back yard (at least very close to where I grew up and swam USA club). Over is San Luis Obispo now, but it's a short hop, skip, and jump over the foothills to Clovis!
What we are seeing here in the last four postings is exactly what I said in the fourth paragraph - location is the largest factor in the decision of the marjority of the participants. Last year it took about nine hours to get from San Francisco to San Juan and about 11 hours to get back, it was a one stop. It was also a very inexpensive ticket (my guess because it was the middle of hurricane season ticket).
I would like to see the championships move around the country so that all members will have a chance to compete in a championship that is relatively nearby. When talking about San Juan, it is a minimum of a two hour flight from the nearest US airport.
michael
Hmmm, if you don't like the location, compaign or vote against the bid. Seems you have some logical reasons that may persuade people, although the travel/location stuff was much worse for Hawaii, which you don't seem to have a problem with.
But I'm not a big fan of over-legislation so I find the declaration that nationals "must be within an LMSC" less than compelling and don't see why this has to be written into the rulebook. And in the current era of few bids for national championships, why in the world would we want to introduce bids that further limit the possibilities?
Everyone is complaining about Clovis but, as has been noted, IT WAS THE ONLY BID. Rather than spending our time at convention arguing about rules that limit bids, let's spend the time talking about how to increase their number.
What we are seeing here in the last four postings is exactly what I said in the fourth paragraph - location is the largest factor in the decision of the marjority of the participants. Last year it took about nine hours to get from San Francisco to San Juan and about 11 hours to get back, it was a one stop. It was also a very inexpensive ticket (my guess because it was the middle of hurricane season ticket).
I would like to see the championships move around the country so that all members will have a chance to compete in a championship that is relatively nearby. When talking about San Juan, it is a minimum of a two hour flight from the nearest US airport.
michael
Hmmm, if you don't like the location, compaign or vote against the bid. Seems you have some logical reasons that may persuade people, although the travel/location stuff was much worse for Hawaii, which you don't seem to have a problem with.
But I'm not a big fan of over-legislation so I find the declaration that nationals "must be within an LMSC" less than compelling and don't see why this has to be written into the rulebook. And in the current era of few bids for national championships, why in the world would we want to introduce bids that further limit the possibilities?
Everyone is complaining about Clovis but, as has been noted, IT WAS THE ONLY BID. Rather than spending our time at convention arguing about rules that limit bids, let's spend the time talking about how to increase their number.
