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.
From Janet (swimsuit addict):
"But I do have one suggestion about warmup pools. One thing future hosts might consider is including in the pre-meet info a list of other pools that are open to the public and either reasonably near the competition venue or accessible by public trans. At this nationals and other big meets (worlds at Stanford, IGLA in DC) I've driven or walked to other pools to warm up when my events fell later in the day, and that has worked out well."
I remember the list at Palo Alto...it helped a lot to get into other pools at times! I brought my ymca card to Atlanta hoping to find a ymca (I had heard about wamups being in the diving well and i thought "2000 people!") The Y close by was a "YOUTH Y"...well, I'm not youthful and plus I had trouble getting a good warmup so I had probs with turns at the bulkhead! My own fault for not coming at 7 a.m! (I raced in the afernoons) :D
From Janet (swimsuit addict):
"But I do have one suggestion about warmup pools. One thing future hosts might consider is including in the pre-meet info a list of other pools that are open to the public and either reasonably near the competition venue or accessible by public trans. At this nationals and other big meets (worlds at Stanford, IGLA in DC) I've driven or walked to other pools to warm up when my events fell later in the day, and that has worked out well."
I remember the list at Palo Alto...it helped a lot to get into other pools at times! I brought my ymca card to Atlanta hoping to find a ymca (I had heard about wamups being in the diving well and i thought "2000 people!") The Y close by was a "YOUTH Y"...well, I'm not youthful and plus I had trouble getting a good warmup so I had probs with turns at the bulkhead! My own fault for not coming at 7 a.m! (I raced in the afernoons) :D
