Clovis in 09??

I challenge you to pull the stats someday and would bet you would see that after proximity, the next biggest factor in drawing people out of the shadows and attend a meet is a great location. Define a great location. Hawaii is a great tourist location and it had the lowest number of swimmers in a short course meet in nearly twenty years. I have never heard that Baltimore is a great tourist location and it has the record for the largest long course meters meet (except for worlds which was four times the Baltimore total). I understand Cleveland had a great meet - I have never heard anyone say Cleveland was a tourist mecca - but it could be that I have led a sheltered life. Portland is a great location. I spent one afternoon going to the downtown with my sister and her family otherwise I was at the pool or with other swimmers. I think we want to go a nice tourist type place, but how many actually get to do tourist things at a swim meet? With all due respect to the folks in Fresno it is one of the most crime ridden, boring cities in the country; http://www.worst-city.com That worst city.com is just a someones hit job. He was trying to be funny and was unsuccessful. Go to cityrating.com for facts. It is a central valley city and like central valley cities it has its own set of problems, but it s crime rate is about the same for cities of its type. I have relatives in the valley and an aunt and uncle who live in Clovis. When I was a kid and visited them, there were orange orchards in Clovis, now there is a lot of tract housing. Now that you are in Phoenix you should be happy to know that it has twice the murder rate of the US (and Clovis) (oh and watch out for your car in Phoenix, it has three times the car theft rate of the rest of the US). And while crime rate is higher on the west side of the Fresno (a very poor section of Fresno) I would guess it would be less in the other sections of the city- Clovis Aquatic center is 12 miles north of downtown. I want to remind people that I'm not going to Clovis because of a bad meet I had there 10 years ago. Jeff, are you a time traveler? Clovis North just opened up last December. If you have a bad meet in Clovis, it was most likely at Clovis East, not at the brand new Clovis North Aquatic complex. Why is there a West Coast bias when it comes to hosting major meets? Interesting question. Lets look at the last ten years Non-west coast Indianapolis 1998 SC Ft Lauderdale 1998 LC Minneapolis 1999 LC Indianaplois 2000 SC Baltimore 2000 LC Cleveland 20002 LC Rutgers 2003 LC Indianapolis 2004 SC Savannah 2004 LC Ft Lauderdale 2005 SC Coral Springs 2006 SC The Woodlands 2007 LC Austin TX 2008 SC West Coast Santa Clara 1999 SC Santa Clara 2001 SC Hawaii 2002 SC Federal Way 2001 LC Tempe 2003 SC Mission Viejo 2005 Lc Federal Way 2007 SC Mt Hood 2008 LC It should also be noted that the west coast has about 40% of USMS membership. To run a meet, you need to have at least two courses for SC and a warm up pool and for long course it should be at least a nine lane 50 meter pool with a warm up pool. Encouarge your friends to bid. IMHO Championship has not done a good job of getting people to bid (full disclosure I am a member of championship committee). michael

I challenge you to pull the stats someday and would bet you would see that after proximity, the next biggest factor in drawing people out of the shadows and attend a meet is a great location. Define a great location. Hawaii is a great tourist location and it had the lowest number of swimmers in a short course meet in nearly twenty years. I have never heard that Baltimore is a great tourist location and it has the record for the largest long course meters meet (except for worlds which was four times the Baltimore total). I understand Cleveland had a great meet - I have never heard anyone say Cleveland was a tourist mecca - but it could be that I have led a sheltered life. Portland is a great location. I spent one afternoon going to the downtown with my sister and her family otherwise I was at the pool or with other swimmers. I think we want to go a nice tourist type place, but how many actually get to do tourist things at a swim meet? With all due respect to the folks in Fresno it is one of the most crime ridden, boring cities in the country; http://www.worst-city.com That worst city.com is just a someones hit job. He was trying to be funny and was unsuccessful. Go to cityrating.com for facts. It is a central valley city and like central valley cities it has its own set of problems, but it s crime rate is about the same for cities of its type. I have relatives in the valley and an aunt and uncle who live in Clovis. When I was a kid and visited them, there were orange orchards in Clovis, now there is a lot of tract housing. Now that you are in Phoenix you should be happy to know that it has twice the murder rate of the US (and Clovis) (oh and watch out for your car in Phoenix, it has three times the car theft rate of the rest of the US). And while crime rate is higher on the west side of the Fresno (a very poor section of Fresno) I would guess it would be less in the other sections of the city- Clovis Aquatic center is 12 miles north of downtown. I want to remind people that I'm not going to Clovis because of a bad meet I had there 10 years ago. Jeff, are you a time traveler? Clovis North just opened up last December. If you have a bad meet in Clovis, it was most likely at Clovis East, not at the brand new Clovis North Aquatic complex. Why is there a West Coast bias when it comes to hosting major meets? Interesting question. Lets look at the last ten years Non-west coast Indianapolis 1998 SC Ft Lauderdale 1998 LC Minneapolis 1999 LC Indianaplois 2000 SC Baltimore 2000 LC Cleveland 20002 LC Rutgers 2003 LC Indianapolis 2004 SC Savannah 2004 LC Ft Lauderdale 2005 SC Coral Springs 2006 SC The Woodlands 2007 LC Austin TX 2008 SC West Coast Santa Clara 1999 SC Santa Clara 2001 SC Hawaii 2002 SC Federal Way 2001 LC Tempe 2003 SC Mission Viejo 2005 Lc Federal Way 2007 SC Mt Hood 2008 LC It should also be noted that the west coast has about 40% of USMS membership. To run a meet, you need to have at least two courses for SC and a warm up pool and for long course it should be at least a nine lane 50 meter pool with a warm up pool. Encouarge your friends to bid. IMHO Championship has not done a good job of getting people to bid (full disclosure I am a member of championship committee). michael