With the continued growth in USMS membership, I would submit that it's time to eliminate the regional teams at Nationals. Case in point: NCMS sent a "team" of 123 swimmers to Atlanta, enough to enter A, B, C, and D relays in many events (e.g. the mens 35+ 200 free relay in which our club team placed 13th behind eight regional teams). It's been argued that the formation of regional teams allows more swimmers to participate in relays, yet local clubs from North Carolina sent as many as thirty or more athletes and could have entered relays on their own as our club (with eight swimmers) did. Swim with the guys you actually train with.
You know what, this post annoys me. For the 1,977 of us there it was a big deal, for some a really big deal. While certainly a small percentage, those of us that compete are probably the biggest supporters of USMS with our money and time.
Well, if you calculate that there are 19x more people who *don't* swim at Nationals than who do...that assertion does not add up. The Usual Suspects (myself included) who go to a National meet each year are a fraction of the total membership. Many of the things we discuss in the forums and amongst ourselves doesn't register with our teammates who just want to stay fit.
Hey, swimming at Nationals is a lot of fun and a great event to focus one's training on. Just keep in mind that for most of our members it is not something that enters their consciousness.
My goal in Atlanta was not to further the mission of USMS explicitly but to swim fast. So, please don't discount the opinions of those who actually took the time, paid the money to promote the sport through competition at our biggest and most visible annual event.
Nobody is discounting, merely putting things into perspective. Sometimes we need to step back for a moment from the debate surrounding Regional vs. Local Club and other issues. It is not a big deal for most members who couldn't recite (or care) who the top ten clubs were in either category. I'm jus' sayin'...
Also, if memory serves the One Hour Postal is the largest National Championship that US Masters Swimming runs. I think there were over 2,600 swimmers who did that event this year.
OK, back to the :argue:
You know what, this post annoys me. For the 1,977 of us there it was a big deal, for some a really big deal. While certainly a small percentage, those of us that compete are probably the biggest supporters of USMS with our money and time.
Well, if you calculate that there are 19x more people who *don't* swim at Nationals than who do...that assertion does not add up. The Usual Suspects (myself included) who go to a National meet each year are a fraction of the total membership. Many of the things we discuss in the forums and amongst ourselves doesn't register with our teammates who just want to stay fit.
Hey, swimming at Nationals is a lot of fun and a great event to focus one's training on. Just keep in mind that for most of our members it is not something that enters their consciousness.
My goal in Atlanta was not to further the mission of USMS explicitly but to swim fast. So, please don't discount the opinions of those who actually took the time, paid the money to promote the sport through competition at our biggest and most visible annual event.
Nobody is discounting, merely putting things into perspective. Sometimes we need to step back for a moment from the debate surrounding Regional vs. Local Club and other issues. It is not a big deal for most members who couldn't recite (or care) who the top ten clubs were in either category. I'm jus' sayin'...
Also, if memory serves the One Hour Postal is the largest National Championship that US Masters Swimming runs. I think there were over 2,600 swimmers who did that event this year.
OK, back to the :argue:
