Clovis in 09??

I find it amusing that some people who have never been to the pool or area will not go because of (insert lame reason/excuse here). Go or don't. Whoever shows up will have a great time and (probably) swim fast. It is nationals, after all. If it were held in North Dakota, I would go. In fact, I did. I have no issue with the Clovis location but your statement annoys me. It is impossible to fly direct into Fresno from the East. Couple that with a layover and the time change you are looking at a 8-10 commit each way in travel, and that's assuming no flight delays or cancellations out of Fresno. Of the 25 of us who met in Fresno our family was the only that didn't have a cancellation or major delay getting home in excess of 8 hours. I do not consider 20 hours of travel three time zones away when you work and have a family to be a lame excuse. Seeing Yosemite with my kids did make it all worthwhile, however.

So why the hell should I break my neck getting to Bumblef*ck CA?! Aw, gee, Leslie. Did you have to resort to name calling? What am I going to tell all the Bumblef*ckians when I see them?

How are things in Maine these days? I lived in Old Town for a while in the early 80's, swam at UMO. Biggest pool in the area then, is it still? Maine is fabulous, except for the lack of pools. I live right near the ocean though. I am several hours south of UMO. I actually drive to New Hampshire to swim LC outside (although it closed today until next May).

I find it amusing that some people who have never been to the pool or area will not go because of (insert lame reason/excuse here). Go or don't. Pretty condescending of you to assume that we haven't been there.:shakeshead: I swam USS Nationals in Clovis in 1987.

Considering that I have not seen anyone on this DF east of the Adirondaks (east of the Colorado River?) say that they will attend, it would probably be safe to presume that the California LMSCs will be heavily represented, as well as Oregon and Washington, bringing one club each. I will predict attendance of over 2200, and will not be surprised to see a new record set. I find it amusing that some people who have never been to the pool or area will not go because of (insert lame reason/excuse here). Go or don't. Whoever shows up will have a great time and (probably) swim fast. It is nationals, after all. If it were held in North Dakota, I would go. In fact, I did. Those searching the results for the last two nationals, I wasn't at either one, even though I wanted to go. Lame reason: I'm at the top of my age group. Real excuse: I was broken, torn shoulder tendon. I will be in Clovis, apparently not seeing most of this DF group, unless I break something else. Michael, I may or may not attend depending on a number of factors...none of them being a wussy and at the top of any age group. Injury on the other hand is 100% a part of masters and requires a note from your doctor plus you buy drinks at the next nationals you attend. The whole point of this discussion I believe is....as Mark points out...what if anything can USMS do to try and build more interest in nationals? As I think has been made clear, more of a "reach out" vs wait for it to come approach is needed...something that was debated for hours years ago at the last convention I attended and apparently still being considered by the committee(s). We would like to see the following: A) An equitable spread between east/west coast B) Somewhat desirable locations C) Decent facilities D) Something not yet discussed here but that I am aware of...an open water event attached as was the case in Hawaii. So...as I said before I challenge each and everyone of the posters on this thread to contact a pool in their area and try and get them to submit a bid for an upcoming nationals....Geek your first up (but behind me as usual as I'm on it already).

Pretty condescending of you to assume that we haven't been there.:shakeshead: I swam USS Nationals in Clovis in 1987. So nothing at all could have changed in the 21 intervening years? Like a brand new pool complex? Like I said, go or don't. I fail to recognize any assumptions made. There has been no Masters meet at this facility yet, so everyone falls into the same category of not having been in the pool. Some have not been in the area. Some have never been in this state, but I refrained from including that. I am not making judgments on your decision to participate, I am observing the curious and interesting game of mostly eastern folk one upping each other in reasons why not to go to Clovis. -bad karma -can't get there from here -it's scary -it's boring -it's hot -it's cold -it's too near Bumblef*ck -the Fortress won't be there -(insert any other DF name who has weighed in) won't be there, either -no beer vendors -have to rearrange sock drawer -picking grapes that weekend (a little valley humor)

What am I going to tell all the Bumblef*ckians when I see them? Whatever you like. I care not. Maybe you can take a poll on whether they have aged up or not. That would not be a factor for me. GMUP and the Terrapins (U of Md) have hosted SCY and LCM Colonies Zones many years running now. The warm down pool is a bit of a challenge for hosting Nationals. I'm not acquainted with the prevalence of other LC pools in the NE, unfortunately, although I would go even if Pacific Masters and PNA swimmers did not.

Paul, The point of this thread was originally a question about who was going to Clovis and what they were swimming. It has since morphed into whatever you, the readers, are interested in. I think you are referring to facility interest in hosting Nationals, not just member interest in attending. That has been a tough nut for some time, and we have to find a way to make it easier to bid. There are some requirements that have been deleted recently, such as having x number of pay phones. Not particularly necessary these days. The process continues and we will probably start sending out personal emissaries to pools that we think would be good places to host nationals. I work out at the Rose Bowl Pool in Pasadena and think it would be terrific for nationals (2-50m pools side by side, a therapy pool and a hot tub), but have not been successful in garnering any interest from the age group team or the pool administrators. There is a 180 member Masters club there that is 80% fitness swimmers, 15% triathletes, and a few competitors. They have not held a Masters meet of any sort in over 15 years. This is not an isolated event. Even though I am such a persuasive and charismatic communicator, even I struck out (game's not over yet). Project this same scenario over the country, and you get one bid for nationals...maybe. It is up to anyone within spitting distance of a pool that can support a national championship to pester the administrators and convince them that Masters is the answer to cash flow for 5 days. Mission Viejo also had an open water event in 2005.

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. It's hardly an accurate east vs. west coast type of comparison when central states are lumped in with the east coast. The 40% figure is quite telling and perhaps why we have west vs non-west listings. It will be interesting to see what the attendance figures are for Clovis. Perhaps the attendees will come largely from that 40%?

Paul, The point of this thread was originally a question about who was going to Clovis and what they were swimming. It has since morphed into whatever you, the readers, are interested in. I think you are referring to facility interest in hosting Nationals, not just member interest in attending. That has been a tough nut for some time, and we have to find a way to make it easier to bid. There are some requirements that have been deleted recently, such as having x number of pay phones. Not particularly necessary these days. The process continues and we will probably start sending out personal emissaries to pools that we think would be good places to host nationals. I work out at the Rose Bowl Pool in Pasadena and think it would be terrific for nationals (2-50m pools side by side, a therapy pool and a hot tub), but have not been successful in garnering any interest from the age group team or the pool administrators. There is a 180 member Masters club there that is 80% fitness swimmers, 15% triathletes, and a few competitors. They have not held a Masters meet of any sort in over 15 years. This is not an isolated event. Even though I am such a persuasive and charismatic communicator, even I struck out (game's not over yet). Project this same scenario over the country, and you get one bid for nationals...maybe. It is up to anyone within spitting distance of a pool that can support a national championship to pester the administrators and convince them that Masters is the answer to cash flow for 5 days. Mission Viejo also had an open water event in 2005. Michael, I find it interesting that your attitude (as a VP of USMS) is "come or don't come, I don't care". This is one of the issues I have with USMS...many of the old guard are just not all that int change or what I would call the "attack" mentality. USMS gets not respect (IMHO). Many young swimmers coming out of high school/college think were a bunch of fitness swimmers wearing caps with flowers on them....we have a huge image problem and no PR/Advertising from the central organization to change this. The fact that we have to sit back and wait for someone like Clovis to step up and host vs. pools lining up begging to be involved is further evidence that we need some serious change....and passing rules to limit the possible host locations is not helping. I'll be the first to offer my help...I will work my ass off to try and get at least 3 facilities in the country to step up and host nationals....and I ask everyone on this forum to try and do the same. In return, I ask you and the USMS higher up's to streamline the bid process and create a marketing package that shows how profitable hosting a USMS nationals can be to local clubs and the community. I want a package that all the soldiers here can walk into a pool complex and say "your stupid" if you don't do this. Deal?