it is profoundly unfair to have the oldest age groups swim early every day at nationals. why in the world would you not rotate the starts by the age groupings to give each group a chance to swim at their preferred times? rather than relying on some rule in the rule books that has nothing to do with covid protocols why do you not create new policy based on fairness to all? that would be consistent with changing the order of events each year.
age groupers have been adjusting to covid for 12 months with staggered start times by age group. to say that you do not want the schedule to be confusing to a group of adult swimmers is patronizing and obviously prejudiced against one group of swimmers.
this ill-founded strategy needs to be corrected now and the proposed start times for all groups need to be clearly communicated to all swimmers well in advance of the meet.
I was going to just be blunt about it and say life is not always fair and it sometimes comes down to choices, you can choose to go or not. It is your choice. But I won't be blunt, at least not this time.
As Jeff Enge points out, there is a HUGE (!) amount of work that goes into setting up and executing a pool national meet, even in normal times. Due to the pandemic, the two meets for this year took an inordinate amount of time and effort from the host, BOD, national office staff, rules and championship committee members to put together. Our first goal was just to get to a point where it appeared that if we put in the work, we could pull the two meets together so USMS members would have an opportunity to race again. We bagged that goal.
Will it/they be ideal? Nope, can't say with any certainty that they will be, and from some commentary, definitely not, but you will be given an opportunity to participate, if you choose to do so.
As far as swimming early, I don't know, maybe it's just me but I have to cross two time zones to get there (used to be three) but like going to Maryland, Ft Lauderdale, Coral Springs... I go to swim and if early it is, so be it. I can take a nap if it's that debilitating.
I would definitely plan on older age groups going first - as is written in the rules - hope to see you there.
Jim Clemmons
Chair, Championship Committee
PS: how do you think Caleb Dressel and Michael Andrew, et al, feel about morning finals in Tokyo???
I was going to just be blunt about it and say life is not always fair and it sometimes comes down to choices, you can choose to go or not. It is your choice. But I won't be blunt, at least not this time.
As Jeff Enge points out, there is a HUGE (!) amount of work that goes into setting up and executing a pool national meet, even in normal times. Due to the pandemic, the two meets for this year took an inordinate amount of time and effort from the host, BOD, national office staff, rules and championship committee members to put together. Our first goal was just to get to a point where it appeared that if we put in the work, we could pull the two meets together so USMS members would have an opportunity to race again. We bagged that goal.
Will it/they be ideal? Nope, can't say with any certainty that they will be, and from some commentary, definitely not, but you will be given an opportunity to participate, if you choose to do so.
As far as swimming early, I don't know, maybe it's just me but I have to cross two time zones to get there (used to be three) but like going to Maryland, Ft Lauderdale, Coral Springs... I go to swim and if early it is, so be it. I can take a nap if it's that debilitating.
I would definitely plan on older age groups going first - as is written in the rules - hope to see you there.
Jim Clemmons
Chair, Championship Committee
PS: how do you think Caleb Dressel and Michael Andrew, et al, feel about morning finals in Tokyo???
