25-METER CHAMPIONSHIP RETURNS TO WHEATON

 

The New England Masters 25-Meter Championship returns to Wheaton College, Norton MA, on December 14-15, 2002.  The Balfour Natatorium is an 8-lane pool with electronic timing and display, and additional swimming area for continuous warm-up and warm-down. Wheaton is a great facility:  deep, fast water along with plenty of space for all our swimmers.  Last year’s meet saw 22 USMS and FINA records broken.  In addition there were 121 individual and 34 relay swims that set New England records. 

 

The Seacoast Swimming Association meet management team will return to provide us with a professionally run meet.

 

WHAT’S NEW THIS YEAR?

 

-       Women’s 400 free on Saturday, Men’s 400 free on Sunday

 

The combined duration for the men’s and women’s 400 free was about an hour and forty minutes last year.  By offering one of the 400’s on each day the meet will flow better.

 

-       Top 16 scoring

 

Given the increased participation in our championship meets, it has been tougher for swimmers to score points.  Since the inception of the Workout Group Challenge we’ve scored the top 10 places.  This year we will score the top 16 places as follows for individual events:  17, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1; double points for relays. 

 

-       800 free relay a non-points event

 

Given the two-day format of the 25-meter championship, and five different relay events, we have no choice but to offer three relays on one day.  Historically the meet management team, officials, and especially the swimmers, are tired by the end of the day on Sunday.  As a result, not only is there a lot of grumbling from tired swimmers who are primarily swimming the 800 free relay for team points, but also there is nobody left to participate in the awards ceremony.  This year we will offer the 800 free relay after the award ceremony, as a non-points event.  Relay teams aiming for New England or National records will still have the opportunity to swim the 800 free relay. 

 

-       Award ceremony after the 400 medley relay, before 800 free relay

 

The award ceremony will be conducted immediately after the 400 medley relay.  We hope that swimmers and coaches will stay for the award ceremony, pick up team banners and individual trophies, and be present for photographs.  The banners from the 2002 SCY Championship are now available and will be distributed at Wheaton during the award ceremony.  Awards will not be distributed after the meet.  This year there is no Patriots game on Sunday, no need to worry about traffic!

 

-       New event order

 

We have a new event order this year due to the changes with the 400 free and 800 free relay. The goal is to balance the Saturday and Sunday timeline, through the 400 medley relay. 

 

-       IN PERSON CHECK-IN ONLY, NO CHECK-IN BY PROXY

 

All events will be deck seeded from entry form times.  Each swimmer is responsible for checking in personally, you may not designate a coach or another swimmer to check you in.  This policy will reduce the number of empty lanes and improve the timeline.  It will also eliminate the potential misunderstanding where people think they’ve been checked in, but actually haven’t.   As previously, swimmers must confirm their entries by 8:30 a.m. each day.  Swimmers who do not check in by 8:30 a.m. will be scratched from all their events for that day.  If you arrive late, check-in immediately and you will be re-entered in events that have not yet been posted

 

WORKOUT GROUP COMPETITION:

 

Great Bay Masters will attempt to win the NEM 25-meter championship for the fourth consecutive year.  Cambridge Masters is coming off a strong win at the 25-yard championship in April, and last won the 25-meter championship in 1998.  Minuteman and Andover YMCA should also be in the battle for the top three positions.  Rounding out the top ten contenders:  the Wheaton Wahoos had a strong showing in their home pool last year, the WNEC Golden Bears, East Providence Masters, South County YMCA, Nashua Penguins, JCC Newton Masters, Beverly YMCA, and North Suburban YMCA should also be in the mix.  The reformed Northeastern Masters may also contend for a top ten finish. 

 

SEACOAST MASSAGE THERAPY RETURNS:

 

Seacoast Massage Therapy will be present for the entire meet – to help you loosen up before a race, flush out the lactic acid after a race, or to work on any troublesome muscle aches. 

 

MEET WEBSITE:

      

Complete meet information is posted on the NEM SCM Championship web site:  http://www.greatbaymasters.org/02scmchamp.html

Do you have questions about the meet?  There is a fairly comprehensive meet FAQ (frequently asked questions), please give it a read.  Questions about the technical rules for swim strokes, turns, starts, relays, etc.?  The five pages from the 2002 rule book on the subject have been extracted and posted.  In addition the meet information sheet, entry form, relay form, SCM records and NE-LMSC all time top ten individual and relay times, meet news, and other information are posted.  Check the meet web page periodically for the latest information.