Let me first say that I had a blast in Atlanta and enjoyed every minute of it (even the last minute of the 1000), so this list is somewhat tongue in cheek:
10. No Starbucks within walking distance of the Hampton Inn.
9. The taste of an Italian soda called "Beverly" at the Coca Cola Museum; it reminded me of viscous lidocaine--what is with that?
8. The stairway access to the pool deck from the stands.
7. Missing out on a medal in the 200 free relay because eight of the teams finishing ahead of us were from "regional" clubs representing entire states.
6. Two swimmers from TXLA trying to recruit my 87 year old father to join their team instead of swimming for Nitro.
5. No Starbucks within walkiing distance of the pool.
4. Turning at the bulkhead, although I nailed all of mine.
3. That one starter who shall remain nameless.
2. Not getting to meet Rich Abrahams, among others.
1. It ended.
Parents
Former Member
There was a 65+ only lane which probably should have been better advertised.
If the warm up pool is really a problem, the meet could be broken up into sessions, which would cut the number of athletes who needed to warm up in half. There are a number of grouping strategies which would be effective at splitting the meet evenly.
This would address a lot of the crowding problems without significantly lengthening the meet, but I don't think size management is the problem. I have never been to a meet where open warm up lanes was not a complete cluster. Give 8 lanes to 100 people and you have the same problems as 10 lanes with 2000 people.
I do like warm up in the diving well because it prevents people from stopping in the middle of the lane to chat ;)
There was a 65+ only lane which probably should have been better advertised.
If the warm up pool is really a problem, the meet could be broken up into sessions, which would cut the number of athletes who needed to warm up in half. There are a number of grouping strategies which would be effective at splitting the meet evenly.
This would address a lot of the crowding problems without significantly lengthening the meet, but I don't think size management is the problem. I have never been to a meet where open warm up lanes was not a complete cluster. Give 8 lanes to 100 people and you have the same problems as 10 lanes with 2000 people.
I do like warm up in the diving well because it prevents people from stopping in the middle of the lane to chat ;)
