2010 SCM Zone Championships

I'm sure life gets in everyone's way from time to time. We are masters after all, many of us with families and jobs. But aren't these factors the same every year? Probably you are right. While life getting in the way waxes and wanes for any one person from year to year, (as I was attempting to show using myself as an example) it probably varies more slowly averaged over the swimming community. The economy may play a role this year, as Q has noted elsewhere. But perhaps the lack of suits is one among many factors that effects people's thinking? I suspect that the suit thing is in fact giving some people second thoughts when they contemplate entering a meet. When I saw all of the fast times from Atlanta I thought to myself that attendance at meets would drop, at least temporarily, because people would be reluctant to compare themselves to the times they swam in a tech suit. I agree that the economy is almost certainly a big factor too. One consequence of the slow economy appears to be that people who remain employed are getting a larger workload and "feeling the heat" more on the job, so the bad economy is likely leading to life (work) getting in the way more. Maybe the slow economy is also preventing people from *hosting* meets. Last year there were several within striking distance of here that are not being held this year.

I'm sure life gets in everyone's way from time to time. We are masters after all, many of us with families and jobs. But aren't these factors the same every year? Probably you are right. While life getting in the way waxes and wanes for any one person from year to year, (as I was attempting to show using myself as an example) it probably varies more slowly averaged over the swimming community. The economy may play a role this year, as Q has noted elsewhere. But perhaps the lack of suits is one among many factors that effects people's thinking? I suspect that the suit thing is in fact giving some people second thoughts when they contemplate entering a meet. When I saw all of the fast times from Atlanta I thought to myself that attendance at meets would drop, at least temporarily, because people would be reluctant to compare themselves to the times they swam in a tech suit. I agree that the economy is almost certainly a big factor too. One consequence of the slow economy appears to be that people who remain employed are getting a larger workload and "feeling the heat" more on the job, so the bad economy is likely leading to life (work) getting in the way more. Maybe the slow economy is also preventing people from *hosting* meets. Last year there were several within striking distance of here that are not being held this year.