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.
Former Member
Just make sure it's gluten free barbecue sauce! And surely the South doesn't object to fruit?
Fruit? No objections. Gluten free bbq sauce??? Ain't no way in hell we're gonna have that crap
Actually there are tons of barbecue sauces that are gluten free. Not rare at all. Almost as common as, say, bananas. :-P
It maybe bbq sauce in your part of the country, but it ain't down here. :D
And the announcement said there would be sports massage. Chiropractic is not sports massage!
Yeah the intern wanted to adjust my neck for a tight quad/itb. Then got pissed when I told him that I didn't want an adjustment. I told him what I needed when I got on the table...
Or, just do LCM Nationals. The meet is only a 1000 people, PR will be much less. Gosh, I had ample warmup/warmdown space at Indy. Great seating area. Locker rooms weren't crowded. Just perfect. I am sorry but almost 2000 people is way too big for any Nationals meets. Toughen the QTs and/or increase the amount of events that you did QTs for. It is funny how they never drop the 6th event at Spring Nationals with that many people but they always seem to do it with LC Nationals.
How can they increase the amount of events you need qualifiying times for already? Anyone can swim 3 events without times, which gets new people into the meet.
If usms says you can swim only 2 events or even 1 event, a lot of people that would have come to the meet will stay home.
This isn't USA nationals. This is usms nationals we are talking about. Everyone that wants to compete in the meet should have that opporunity.
How can they increase the amount of events you need qualifiying times for already? Anyone can swim 3 events without times, which gets new people into the meet.
If usms says you can swim only 2 events or even 1 event, a lot of people that would have come to the meet will stay home.
This isn't USA nationals. This is usms nationals we are talking about. Everyone that wants to compete in the meet should have that opporunity.
I had this discussion one evening. It's an insult to many who can't met QT's. We pay the same, many train as hard or harder, we love our sport and want the best swim facility opportunity too.
These are not my "convictions" just thoughts of what could be done and how it could impact USMS.
Have 2 Nats and split age groups add a day for 500's and 400IM, or prohibit entry in both...seems harsh.
Find a Central facility, and BUILD A WARM UP POOL outside & nats is hosted there every year...local LMSC's lose out
Abolish Relays...not fun
Close 1 pool for Relays and leave the other open for mid meet warm up...won't save enough time...
Suck it up for a humongous day on Saturday...I find this palatable as I want to swim and I loved every minute of the meet. Need more volunteers or $ for them.
Leave QT's alone, but enforce them. However give non QT makers a pass every other year for a full card of events. I would go every other year and swim 6 rather than every year and swim 3.
Allow only 1 swim per stroke style.
Hold a top 25 Nats separately(which is what will happen basically if you up the QT reqa-IMHO)...will keep the elitists happy but may upset average swimmers or those that like to watch the top guys in their event duke it out, and risk another masters org creeping in and stealing USMS thunder.
Ban non QT'ers from swimming on the other side of the country in more than non QT events...harsh but doesn't prohibit total participation.
We have to ask why are we doing this: Are we here to kick everyone's in our agegroup's ass? Show the world how great we are as we age? Are we here to enjoy the swimming as a healthy lifestyle choice? Are we here to promote swimming as an inclusive and accessible sport to all, including physically challenged people? Enjoy the triumphs and console the misfortunes of all who attend whether they are awesome swimmers or just awesome people to be around? Ask yourself why you swim? If you want hardcore competition, USA is still an option...if you can't cut it with the 18 year olds...then you belong with masters...but masters belongs to all of us...equally.
Lastly Griping about the warm up jerks is pointless they probably don't read the forums as I think nearly all the forum readers have a social bond going already, whether they're #1 or #501.
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 ;)
I really don't think any of the suggestion Stud made would be an improvement.
I agree Kirk.
I don't see any as being a solution, or better. Just a different way of doing it.
I still rather have the option of 6 events every other year and none the following...but I may be a lone voice.
The QT's are formidable enough...toughening them will backfire I feel, and drive folks out of the competition side. Nobody want to be excluded from the party.
My top ten would have included the number of NS...now you want to talk wasting time in the meet...
5. No trolley/shuttle from Renaissance- You have two legs...use them
4. Bulkhead issues- Why I don't swim freestyle
3. Water quality issues, sooo many bubbles.- People should stop burping in the pool
2. Timing issues on even course.- Bring a watch to hand to the timers, then you don't get your time, blame the watch you provided
1. No massage- Gotta wife? Got friends? Problem solved. They can provide you with one.
This is funny. I felt sorry for you sprinters in those conditions as it seemed hard to really do bursts and good turns. I just swam slowly for about 30 minutes and was happy as a clam.
That silly little 2 foot wide one in the middle would have made for an excellent 1 way sprint or burst lane.
I actually did pretty well in the main pool for warmups, but I was there before the distance events due to sleeping issues. Most mornings I only shared the lane with 3 or 4 other folks.
Hey what do you know...I got my ass out of bed each day at 6 and made it to the pool by 7am for a warm up too...I managed on broken swims in the mosh pit before and after every event after that.
My gripes -
3) hospitality running out of fruit and water and other food by the last day. I ended up buying food at the cafe just to be able to get a healthy snack.
This also is clearly the fault of the slower swimmers who only had 3 events to swim and therefore were first in line to the food and able to eat with much longer periods of downtime...
