Excellent question. Where do you begin? |
This is so not true! Prep accommodates their dryland schedule so the kids can make their HS swim. Stop hating! |
| Only a handful of NCAP-P kids at NCSAs. Are they doing a different meet? |
Last year they did the Shamrock Showdown, which seems like an odd choice but whatever. |
Pretty much all on NCAP does this in place of Sectionals. |
Yup, a lot of the sectionals qualifiers that do not have NCSA cuts go to Shamrock Showdown. Which is a weird choice since the cuts for Shamrock are pretty slow, but maybe it’s because it pretty much guarantees that the fast NCAP swimmers will make finals. |
It makes me sad that NSCA, ISCA, and I guess now Shamrock Showdown have made Sectionals less of a core meet. It used to really mean something back in the day. |
At our NCAP site sectional cuts are a huge point of emphasis but the meet itself is not one we attend. I don’t know why don’t go to Sectionals as opposed to Shamrock, maybe because Richmond is close enough that it is a self travel meet rather than team travel. |
Sometimes teams duck a meet so their swimmers can have a better chance of more finals, especially after they go through the whole process of tapering and suiting. Our team definitely does this - they have a choice of spring sectionals to go to, and they usually choose a site that has fewer fast swimmers so more of our swimmers can final and get a second swim. I shouldn’t say “duck” because I think they want fast competition, but they also don’t want to squander opportunities to drop time while suited and tapered. It can be good strategy to choose a meet where more of your swimmers can final and get a second chance for best times. It is not as great for the slower swimmers from ncap or any other team who subsequently can’t make a final, of course. It’s a good experience for everyone to experience finals. |
We were told the team doesn’t go to Sectionals because they don’t like the pool where it is held. Although Shamrock Showdown has easier cuts than Sectionals, you much have a Sectionals cut to attend from NCAP. Plus, the meet pulls from all over according to the announcement. “ The Shamrock Showdown is a four day meet, running from March 27-30. The event is set to welcome 600-700 athletes from across the East Coast, ranging from New York City down to the Carolinas. SwimMAC Carolina and Nation’s Capital Swim Club, who are the top ranked teams in the nation, will both be in attendance, offering an exciting showcase of elite performance. ” |
This is exactly why |
Prep won’t let their swimmers go to NCSAs unless they can final. |
| NCap is all about points for NCap not what meet might be a good experience for their swimmers |
Have you actually looked at who is at this meet? There are many fast teams there . |
Age group NCSAs? I know a lot of NCAP kids who won’t final there. |