Photo by Griffin Scott
Editorial coverage for U.S. Senior Nationals proudly sponsored by Master Spas!
IRVINE, California, August 6. THE first night of swimming at the USA Swimming national had plenty of exciting races that had the crowd buzzing at the William Woollett Aquatic Center, from a shocking win in the men’s 200 fly to Katie Ledecky’s world record chase in the 800 free.
Jeff Commings and David Rieder witnessed it all in Irvine, and they bring you an analysis of the six individual event finals from the first night of the meet in this video!
http://blip.tv/swimmingworldtv/day-1-recap-2014-nationals-7006471
Dear Fellow Swimmers & Spectators
I’m sure many of you are here at seniors. It looks like US Swimming is practicing age discrimination at our national championships.
Last night in the women’s 200 fly, there were 13 18 & under swimmers in the 3 heats and only 11 19& over swimmers. The 18 & unders can swim in the A or B final and if they don’t make it, there’s the C final reserved just for them. This is our “Senior Championship”, either all Jrs should be relegated to the C final or all 3 heats should be based on the top times only. Anything else is a clear case of age discrimination.
I’m sure others will have an opinion, but I think it comes down to the point of consolation heats in general at pinnacle meets. You do not have consolation heats at a meet like the Olympics or Worlds. And, at meets like Seniors and NCAAs, the B final counts in terms of team scoring. So, there is a reason for those heats.
I think USA Swimming sees a junior-focused C final at Seniors as more of just an added opportunity for the future of the sport to get some time in the lights. It’s not like the heats actually impact anything else in terms of team scoring, so USA Swimming could just as easily cut the C final and shorten the program.
Typically, the reasoning for anything beyond team-scored heats during in-season championship-schedule meets is that it is another opportunity for a second swim to get a cut to make it to the Senior meet (Seniors, NCAAs). So, it makes sense when a Grand Prix runs 4 heats at night to give a lot of people another chance at a cut. But, by the time you get to that Senior meet, there’s really no need for those extra finals.
Can definitely see your point on age discrimination, and if it had anything to do with a team scoring heat, I think it would be a much stronger charge. But, in the end, I really don’t think USA Swimming sees a C final at a pinnacle meet as anything but an exhibition.