Wow. I mean, just WOW. I've been to this before and it seems bigger and longer than ever despite the fact that the heats are clocking along more efficiently than last year here at Fairland. Or maybe it's just really, really warm in here. I don't care if the swimming in some heats isn't speedy...but would it be strategic to cap the number of registrations (or cap them lower than they are now)? I talked to one parent whose swimmer had been here at Fairland for more than 6 hours... |
There is no way to cap the number of registrations-- the "open" part is a feature, not a bug. The only way to get it smaller is for a fourth team to step up to host, finding a fourth site to do so.
That or for more teams to skip, but you can't require them to |
There are rules that they cannot be longer than 4 hours.
Also get your club to do invitationals - more expensive but less clubs and faster meets. |
That rule is only for 10&under sessions-- that's why this meet has 10u in its own session, rather than one bigger 12u session that has happened in past years. |
My DD aged up over the summer and is now an 11-12, and it felt like the 11-12 session ran much faster than I remember the 9-10 sessions running at the PVS Opens. I can’t imagine how long it took back when all the 12Us were in 1 session. |
Wait, why was a swimmer there for more than six hours? The age group blocks were, what, 3.5-ish hours each, including warm ups? My DD swam in her first club meet and absolutely loved it. I had a blast timing. If you want smaller, more selective meets, pay for them. Being this inclusive of various abilities is a really, really good thing. |
It’s actually a 12 and under 4 hour rule. But it only applies in the planning, the timeline can’t anticipate going over 4 hours. The meet can still run longer if there is a problem. (Eg someone vomits in the pool, the equipment malfunctions etc ) |
Two years ago, it was much worse at Lee District. I think the 13+ kids were there 7+ hours. It was horrible. 6 would have been wonderful. |
Fairlands must’ve been at 94 degrees for the all freestyle meet a few weeks ago. It was sweltering in there. |
What session went over 6 hours? I was at 11-12 and that didn’t. And it started on time so the 13&u must not have been that long. |
There were four different pools foolr the Open. |
OP said Fairland |
OP is likely including warm up and warm down. |
Yes to all of the above. And to be clear, there was nothing bad or wrong about it, just that the sheer scale of the thing seemed to be pushing the boundaries of practicality and the actual carrying capacity of the space. I'm very much 100% in favor of racing opportunities for all of the swimmers (there are plenty of other dates and places for time cuts), but I definitely think we need to spread this out. Another facility would probably be the most helpful change, but obviously it's a huge ask for anyone to take this on. |
Franconia went an hour over for 10 and under. It was painful too. |