Let's be positive here folks as this was a superb meet. Here's my TT list of likes (in stream of consciousness, not necessarily priority)
Too many inspirational / motivational people and swims to count
Meeting many (but not nearly enough) forumites & bloggers
Mark Gill announcing -- keep the guy on the microphone as much as possible (Paul Smith, think caffeine drip and catheter setup:))
The dry side facility -- smoothie stand, spectator seating, the view of both courses, the scoreboard, the reaction times on the scoreboard
Ga Tech Hotel -- exceeded expectations
Ga Tech Trolleys and easy access to the pool
Starbucks across the street from the Ga Tech hotel (gull, FYI)
Location / easy airport access
Indoor facility -- I love to train outdoors and race indoors
The super-friendly support staff / volunteers running things with efficiency and southern charm
Patrick,
Your Dad had a great meet. Improving times in many events, placing well, 1st on a relay! I'm sure it's great to have family at an event like this.
10. Roque for naming his new swim line after meI hope you're getting a royalty for this; if not, I'm sure there are some ambitious lawyers amongst the forumites who could help you extract your fair share of the profits, maybe a modeling / sponsorship contract for the new line, future input to design, etc. Milk it, Q, milk it.
1. The efficient registration process.
2. The location of the gold parking lot.
3. The free shampoo, conditioner, and body wash in the locker rooms.
4. The awards - nice ribbon and design.
5. The blocks.
6. Plenty of deck space to sit and move around.
7. Too many positive and encouraging people to count!
8. Easy to go back and forth between the hotel and the pool.
9. The hard work by the volunteers.
10. The level of competition.
A few have complained about the fried chicken, but I LIKED the fried chicken in the hospitality room. No worse than donuts or pizza. I'd rather eat fried chicken than some frou-frou salad with tofu. Kudos to somebody for thinking to put at least one traditional southern dish in the hospitality room.
1. Ed for hosting
2. GT for the venue
3. The billion volunteers needed to run the meet
4. The fourmites
5. The lurkers
6. Paul Wolf for a gridge that got me to show up to Nationals
7. The SWIMS database sign up sheet
8. Speedo showing me where this secret sign up sheet was
9. Several impressive swims by friends that will motivate me to work on things that I don't enjoy working on
10. Roque for naming his new swim line after me
Just in case some of you think I only know how to whine, I want to go on record that there were numerous things that made Atlanta a wonderful experience.
1. The shuttle was fabulous! It was convenient, fast, and friendly.
2. All of the volunteers were exceptionally friendly and helpful.
3. The organizational structure worked like clockwork.
4. Swimmers are quality people. It's nice to spend time with them.
5. It was such a treat to witness so many amazingly fast swims.
6. It was inspirational to view those racing through pain and disability.
7. Mark Gill did it again!
8. The facility was beautiful. It makes me want to be a Tech swimmer in my next life.
9. The Tech students treated us like guests.
10. I had such a positive experience in spite of average swims, I look forward to the next Nats. Compliments to all who were a part of this enormous undertaking!!!
6. The fact each event's first heat (90-years-old +) always got as much attention and applause as the last heat featuring 2008 (and hopefully 2012) Olympians
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I'll 2nd that. A little fact about Dr. John Taylor, 89, he was one of two 89 year olds. He still does triathlons at his age. How inspirational is that?! I talked to he and Anne Dunivin, the 93 year old. They were born on the same day, May 9th, just a few years apart.
1. Easy check-in
2. Location of the All sessions parking lot
3. Tri Swim in the showers (I'm going to buy some now!)
4. The nice stadium seats with good view of both pools
5. Meeting Bumpy Jones (1952), Rowdy, Roque and Cullen.
6. Loved the blocks at this pool
7. The concession stand had great food and the GT Student Center one wasn't too far away and had good food as well.
8. Friendly, hard working volunteers (including my dad who timed Thurs, Fri and Sun)
9. Great times with forumites and FB friends
10. Best of all, my parents and sister who got to see me compete for the first time since 2004. Can't beat that. :cheerleader:
1. Fast pool (although my swims were horrendous).
2. Mark as announcer again. Pat's parents from CT thought he was the best.
3. Meeting MANY forumites, usually on accident :)
4. The trolley and MARTA were awesome (met many forumites there!)
5. 52. 100 ***. WOW.
6. Genadijus was there.
7. Lots of food choices.
8. I learned that 5 days is too long to stay away from my kids. Was already missing them by Friday night.
9. The people of Atlanta were SO friendly, wherever we went.
10. My hubby putting on a tech suit, finally, for his last race, and winning it.
:applaud:
1. I gotta echo what's already been said about Mark Gill's announcing. I saw Jerry Seinfeld live in Nashville the week before, and Mark made me laugh more than Jerry did.
2. Seeing friends I had not seen in 20 years.
3. Meeting new friends
4. Enjoying the moment of my races - getting psyched behind the blocks, the feel of my strokes, patting myself on the back for really giving it my all - instead of obsessing over my time like I did back in the day.
5. Lots of great advice from experienced friends on how to get rid of AWFUL leg cramps from Day 1
6. The fact each event's first heat (90-years-old +) always got as much attention and applause as the last heat featuring 2008 (and hopefully 2012) Olympians
7. The fact that it was the last time I had to squeeze into a full body tech suit to be competitive.
