Are Open Water events more popular than Pool events?
Former Member
It’s undeniable that the popularity of open water swimming has risen dramatically in the last few years. But when looking for a LCM meet to swim in, I saw an interesting trend on the USMS Calendar.
www.usms.org/.../calendar.php
Here in the Colonies Zone, there are three pool meets listed (two were last weekend and the other is in October) and TEN open water events. In the Great Lakes Zone, there are ZERO pool meets (not counting LCM Nationals in Indy) and seven open water events. These kinds of numbers are similar in virtually all the Zones.
Has open water swimming officially passed pool swimming in popularity?
This thread brings up two great points.
1 - USMS Calendar of Events's "accuracy"
2 - Lack of LCM meets
To address the first, I am guilty of not submitting my meet to the calendar this year. I don't know who did, but someone got it up there. In my personal case, it just slipped my mind, as we announced the meet a little over 5 weeks before it happened.
Reading the comments, especially about the Great Lake Zone, we all know there are issues with the "accuracy" of the Calendar of Events. We are all fully capable of visiting LMSC websites too, but how accurate are they? Bottom line is that we have a national tool that can easily be made better. My thoughts here are that someone in every LMSC (ie the Sanctions Chair) should be responsible for ensuring their LMSC's meets are listed on that calendar. These guys can collect the information necessary, and when the sanction is granted, submit the information. Easy Peasy Japaneezy.
The second point brought up here is a seeming lack of LC Meets. Part of this could be Virginia Graham Baker Act-related (why there's no CZ LC "Champs" this year), so if this lack of meets is a 2009 issue, we'll see that trend reversing next year. Yes, Long Course is not exactly a popular course among masters swimmers, and a lot of us have other things (tri's, kid swimming, vacations) going on. However, from my perspective, a lower number of meets is a trend that has been going on for years.
I know there are plenty of pools that have masters teams, but don't host meets. To pick on my bordering LMSCs who traditionally have very few meets a year anyway, Delaware Valley had one LC meet that was hardly advertised outside DV, and only 4 meets on the schedule for 2009. Virginia, for all the travelling VMST does for relays, etc., has hosted only two (SCY) meets in 2009, and one was hosted by a brand new team.
Hosting meets isn't always about the money, either. I look at my team's LC meet as providing a valuable service to the local masters swimming community; and that as a swimmer at a pool with the ability to host a LC meet, I have an obligation to do what I can to put on this meet. There is a team in our LMSC with several hundred swimmers over at least a half-dozen sites, but has never to my knowledge hosted a masters meet. I think that is wrong.
In Potomac Valley, we've offered financial support to teams to try to spring more teams into action. Perhaps this kind of support is needed elsewhere too - or we're going to see the demise of pool meet swimming.
This thread brings up two great points.
1 - USMS Calendar of Events's "accuracy"
2 - Lack of LCM meets
To address the first, I am guilty of not submitting my meet to the calendar this year. I don't know who did, but someone got it up there. In my personal case, it just slipped my mind, as we announced the meet a little over 5 weeks before it happened.
Reading the comments, especially about the Great Lake Zone, we all know there are issues with the "accuracy" of the Calendar of Events. We are all fully capable of visiting LMSC websites too, but how accurate are they? Bottom line is that we have a national tool that can easily be made better. My thoughts here are that someone in every LMSC (ie the Sanctions Chair) should be responsible for ensuring their LMSC's meets are listed on that calendar. These guys can collect the information necessary, and when the sanction is granted, submit the information. Easy Peasy Japaneezy.
The second point brought up here is a seeming lack of LC Meets. Part of this could be Virginia Graham Baker Act-related (why there's no CZ LC "Champs" this year), so if this lack of meets is a 2009 issue, we'll see that trend reversing next year. Yes, Long Course is not exactly a popular course among masters swimmers, and a lot of us have other things (tri's, kid swimming, vacations) going on. However, from my perspective, a lower number of meets is a trend that has been going on for years.
I know there are plenty of pools that have masters teams, but don't host meets. To pick on my bordering LMSCs who traditionally have very few meets a year anyway, Delaware Valley had one LC meet that was hardly advertised outside DV, and only 4 meets on the schedule for 2009. Virginia, for all the travelling VMST does for relays, etc., has hosted only two (SCY) meets in 2009, and one was hosted by a brand new team.
Hosting meets isn't always about the money, either. I look at my team's LC meet as providing a valuable service to the local masters swimming community; and that as a swimmer at a pool with the ability to host a LC meet, I have an obligation to do what I can to put on this meet. There is a team in our LMSC with several hundred swimmers over at least a half-dozen sites, but has never to my knowledge hosted a masters meet. I think that is wrong.
In Potomac Valley, we've offered financial support to teams to try to spring more teams into action. Perhaps this kind of support is needed elsewhere too - or we're going to see the demise of pool meet swimming.
