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.
Jeff,
On the topic of host teams not making any money, why is Nationals so cheap? If Nationals costs $50 or $200, it has very little impact on my decision to swim.
Almost every aspect of my trip to Nationals cost more than the entry fee when taken individually (getting to ATL, get home from ATL, parking at hotel, parking at pool, food, each night at the hotel) all cost more than the entry fee.
As for not having advanced notice of participation, open registration earlier and provide an incentive to make the decision sooner. $10 isn't much of an incentive.
I fully agree with you. But whenever a cost increase gets proposed, the USMS House of Delegates screams bloody murder that we are gouging. The surcharge has been going up slowly over the years and I'm sure that trend will continue, but any big jumps get rejected. I also agree $10 isn't much incentive to enter early. But it's a catch-22 because while we want people to enter earlier, we also need the revenue! Plus we get the common complaint about not having accurate seed times so far out from the meet. It's a never ending process - hopefully next year we'll have better options than this year.
Jeff,
On the topic of host teams not making any money, why is Nationals so cheap? If Nationals costs $50 or $200, it has very little impact on my decision to swim.
Almost every aspect of my trip to Nationals cost more than the entry fee when taken individually (getting to ATL, get home from ATL, parking at hotel, parking at pool, food, each night at the hotel) all cost more than the entry fee.
As for not having advanced notice of participation, open registration earlier and provide an incentive to make the decision sooner. $10 isn't much of an incentive.
I fully agree with you. But whenever a cost increase gets proposed, the USMS House of Delegates screams bloody murder that we are gouging. The surcharge has been going up slowly over the years and I'm sure that trend will continue, but any big jumps get rejected. I also agree $10 isn't much incentive to enter early. But it's a catch-22 because while we want people to enter earlier, we also need the revenue! Plus we get the common complaint about not having accurate seed times so far out from the meet. It's a never ending process - hopefully next year we'll have better options than this year.
