Why aren't we seeing questions and discussions about the World FINA championship problem? The issue is apparently that Sweden was the only nation to volunteer to host the 2010 world championships - but Gothenburg Sweden does not have a site with two 50 meter pools in the same location. So the meet will be apparently be conducted in two separate pools in different parts of the city. Our and probably many other teams will be impacted by separating male and female swimming events. It's not only team cohesiveness and support, but the important role of our coach that's affected. He can't be in two places at once. Our team from Reston was planning to have a good turnout - but now those plans are cancelled.
I hope to contact USMS officials to see if any other options are possible - even startiing early in the morning and ending late at night.
If anyone has further info or insights we'd welcome hearing them, because my wife and I had looked forward to this opportunity.
:confused:
Former Member
I hope to contact USMS officials to see if any other options are possible - even startiing early in the morning and ending late at night.
You need to contact FINA. They are the ones who run the world championships (not USMS).
I hope to contact USMS officials to see if any other options are possible - even startiing early in the morning and ending late at night.
If anyone has further info or insights we'd welcome hearing them, because my wife and I had looked forward to this opportunity.
:confused:
Skip Sweden and come to Puerto Rico a week or so later for the USMS LCM Nationals. One pool, sunshine, beaches, fun rum drinks after the meet!
Personally, I'd prefer to go to Sweden (my wife doesn't swim so we wouldn't be impacted by two pools), but my kids do swim and Worlds conflict with my older two daughters big summer LCM meets, so I'm planning on Puerto Rico.
I wanted to go to Sweden,but the travel will be more expensive with the extra airfare and extra days.Throw in my wife and I swimming in separate pools and it is a deal breaker(going to PR will be expensive enough.)
I posted something similar in the other thread, but yes, I'm very disappointed in having men/women split up and it's pretty much a deal-breaker for me as well. That said I realize that there are few locations in the world with multiple 50 meter pools and warmup space and there's no good way to split it up, which you really need to do for a meet which could potentially be huge.
All that said I don't understand why worlds can't be short course meters instead. Yah, long course is fancier and more "upscale" but the problem would be solved by swimming short course. Then there are tons of pools where they could run two courses and have separate warmup. Most masters seem to prefer short course anyway, for all the extra turns, and the 100 IM. It can be long course when suitable locations are available, like Stanford.
Knowing FINA though I'm sure a change like this is much easier said than done.
Just a thought for some of you thinking about going to Sweden that don't want to pay for it directly... I used to work for Volvo and the best deal they had was their overseas delivery program. You buy the car at a steep discount and they fly you to Sweden to pick it up. You get to hang out in Europe for a while and then drop it back off, then they ship it back to your dealership. Probably one of the best deals in the car business. Only major downside is the wait between dropping your car off and it getting back to the states. It's been a few years since I've been involved with them, but I'm assuming it's still the same deal.
So I realize it's a big "if" that one would even want to buy a Volvo in the first place, but if you do you might as well squeeze a "free" trip to Worlds out of it.
Skip Sweden and come to Puerto Rico a week or so later for the USMS LCM Nationals. One pool, sunshine, beaches, fun rum drinks after the meet!
Personally, I'd prefer to go to Sweden (my wife doesn't swim so we wouldn't be impacted by two pools), but my kids do swim and Worlds conflict with my older two daughters big summer LCM meets, so I'm planning on Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico or Sweden.....that's a really tough call....ok not really...sweden.
