NVSL All Stars - Is it worth going if you are 1st Alternate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The other way a swimmer might get to swim is a false start. I've seen that happen, especially with the 8 & us. It's awful - pulling the crying swimmer off the deck and not allowing them to swim and bringing in an alternate.

I worked the table at All Stars a couple of years ago. 15-18s always has lots of scratches. The boys Butterfly had so may scratches, they had two empty lanes at the day of the meet.

I was an official last year and saw this happen. It’s so heartbreaking! But the alternate takes the lane at that point.

Needlessly penalizing an 8 year old is what starters and refs live for. Years ago I saw a starter get four 8&Us at all stars thanks to terrible cadence

No, as a referee and starter I assure you that they feel absolutely horrible when they can’t let a kid who false started swim. But your role as a ref and starter is to enforce the USA swimming and nvsl rules fairly across all age groups. And so long as that remains a rule you need to enforce it.

I’m also curious what you mean by “terrible cadence”. If you mean inconsistent, then my understanding is that that’s by design. I’ve been told (someone please confirm!) that starters are trained to vary their timing so that swimmers can’t predict when to dive in, they have to wait for the sound.
(That said, I’ve certainly observed some lousy starters that barely give swimmers a chance to set before they start the race.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The other way a swimmer might get to swim is a false start. I've seen that happen, especially with the 8 & us. It's awful - pulling the crying swimmer off the deck and not allowing them to swim and bringing in an alternate.

I worked the table at All Stars a couple of years ago. 15-18s always has lots of scratches. The boys Butterfly had so may scratches, they had two empty lanes at the day of the meet.

I was an official last year and saw this happen. It’s so heartbreaking! But the alternate takes the lane at that point.

Needlessly penalizing an 8 year old is what starters and refs live for. Years ago I saw a starter get four 8&Us at all stars thanks to terrible cadence

No, as a referee and starter I assure you that they feel absolutely horrible when they can’t let a kid who false started swim. But your role as a ref and starter is to enforce the USA swimming and nvsl rules fairly across all age groups. And so long as that remains a rule you need to enforce it.

I’m also curious what you mean by “terrible cadence”. If you mean inconsistent, then my understanding is that that’s by design. I’ve been told (someone please confirm!) that starters are trained to vary their timing so that swimmers can’t predict when to dive in, they have to wait for the sound.
(That said, I’ve certainly observed some lousy starters that barely give swimmers a chance to set before they start the race.)

yep- specifically in training you are told to make sure you aren't just defaulting to exactly the same rhythm, but rather watching the swimmers to make sure they are set, and then starting them. No starter or referee wants to DQ a kid for a false start.

[Anonymous]

Yes, the cadence is inconsistent by design. That being said, generally the cadence of an 8&u race is determined by the swimmers themselves. As a starter you’re trained to wait until all swimmers are “set” and the little ones often are a bit more jittery and take longer to find their positions.

[Anonymous]

My 8 & under went as 2nd alternate last year. At the event, a girl cried and won’t get into the water, and the 1st alternate got to swim. Lucky her. My daughter did not swim but had a fun experience. It was a great motivator for her. Hopefully she will get to All Stars next year.

[Anonymous]

8&Us false start in at least one or two heats at all stars, someone gets sick or hurt esp with covid this summer, or families go on vacation. I would go unless I had somewhere else to be.

[Anonymous]

A couple years ago my son missed his race at All Stars because of a very sudden, very poorly timed bout of diarrhea. It was an alternate’s lucky day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its the 8 and under age group - it seems like that is the group with the smallest number of scratches.

There is a chance for a false start though even if no one scratches and then you child would replace the swimmer that had the false start.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is our first year with NVSL All Stars, my child is a 1st Alternate. Is it worth going to the event? I am guessing at this point it is highly unlikely my kid will get to swim correct? Its one of the earlier events so we wouldn't be waiting around all day. I am torn.

Covid is swirling around DMV. We have multiple swimmers who got covid this week in our team including some all stars. With the way it spreads I see some kids wouldn't be able to swim this weekend. If my child is 1st alternate we would go.