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?
Parents
Former Member
Having spent far to many weekends of my youth at all day swim meets I have no desire to complete in pools ever again. Drive an hour or more to swim a couple of events that last a combined 10 minutes. No thanks. I only got back into swimming a few years ago because of the open water opportunities. And luckily for me I live in Austin where there are many great open water swim throughout the year. Thank you Dr. Bell.
Having spent far to many weekends of my youth at all day swim meets I have no desire to complete in pools ever again. Drive an hour or more to swim a couple of events that last a combined 10 minutes. No thanks. I only got back into swimming a few years ago because of the open water opportunities. And luckily for me I live in Austin where there are many great open water swim throughout the year. Thank you Dr. Bell.
