Why go to a Nationals Swim Meet?
Usually mid to late January, you start to hear the rumblings around the pool of “Hey, are you going to nationals?” And many at first are quick to say no, but after two to three months of the same question, some start to change their minds. And why wouldn’t you! Nationals are the largest annual competitions of U.S. Masters Swimming, and the best part of it is, you do not need to qualify for a nationals time to participate…but if you are fast enough to qualify, you are awesome.
“Wait, did you just say competitions…plural?” YES! There is the 25-meter short-course competition that usually occurs in Spring and the 50-meter long-course competition that usually occurs in late Summer. Both competitions are roughly five days long and usually wrap around a weekend, so for any of those who are hoping to not use a lot of paid time off, no sweat. The second-best part of nationals is that every year each competition is held in a different USA city. This past year short-course was held in Indianapolis, Indiana in June to overlap with the USA Swimming Trials for the Olympics, and long-course was held in Mission Viejo, California in August; so each competition/year you are able to experience a new pool and explore a new city.
Sounds cool, right? Now you may be asking “so, you mentioned that each competition is roughly five days long. How many events are there and how many can I participate in?” The total amount of events can range but it is typically a full swim meet program, which is why the competition is five days as one event could last four hours due to the number of heats associated with it. Swimmers may have the ability to participate in a maximum of six events (pending the volume of participant registrations) allowing those whom are unable to get a nationals qualifying time to participate in a maximum of three events. It is up to you which events you wish to participate in but there are some events that will only allow national qualifying times (e.g. 1000 Freestyle & 1650 Freestyle).
“But why would I go to another state for only three events?” This is probably the most common question that I hear. The answer is simple. You go for the experience and for your team. Sure, you could only attend a local swim meet here in New York and maybe swim against 20 other swimmers in your event, but that experience is nothing like swimming against 1,160 other swimmers (e.g. Indy Spring Nationals 50-meter freestyle total participants). When you are at nationals you are part of a team, and not just your local region, but part of the entire Niagara region. Together, we cheer, cry, hangout, get each other’s cars towed in parking lots, have interesting stories from the Air BnB’s we were staying at, or even become small time celebrities from the U.S. Masters Swimming social media team (*ahem* small shout out). You go, because you want to challenge yourself, because there is nothing better then hearing the Official Starter say “take your mark” and then your instantly diving off the block feeling the rush of the race. You go to be part of the team relays, which, let’s be honest, are better than being part of most individual events and finally, you go because it is absolute fun.
For those who have already gone, and want to share your photos from your experience, please send them to NIWebmaster@usms.org so we can upload them to the website. Next year’s locations are already set, click here to see more.
— Joe Vitthuhn