April 25-29th, 2012 - USMS Short Course Yards Championships - Greensboro
This year, Greensboro North Carolina will be host to US Masters Short Course National Championships.&nbsdp; North Carolina Masters Swimming, essentially all of us registered swimmers in North Carolina will be swimming as one team. I think we need to get as many from RAM in the pool for the competion. The meet will be in the brand new Greensboro facility. Plan on attending to compete or to volunteer. Indeed, plan on doing both competing and volunteering. Let's make this National Championship memorable. Below is complete information on where the meet will be held, what are the events and links on what are the qualifying times and how to enter the meet. The form on volunteering can be found at Nationals Volunteer Form.
We can anticipate a large contingent of swimmers from Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia and Potomac Valley. I think we may have a large east coast attendance. North Carolina has an opportunity to take the National Championship and RAM has a chance to play a major role in that effort. Key to both is a large representation from all age groups at the pool.
With the Championship meet we also have a large need for people to volunteer to help in the meet. This is the third National Championship held in North Carolina and we have established a reputation for running meets smoothly and efficiently. We need to continue this support. The way this is done is through volunteers. Expect Greensboro to provide a lot of volunteers, but they will not be enough. RAM and other swim groups will need to step in and help. Plan on swimming and plan on helping. The following will give you details about the Championship plus provide information on volunteers and where they will be needed.
Let's go North Carolina!
The following information is courtesy of Hill Carrow and is from a presentation he gave to RAM. Thanks a bunch for this information, Hill.
Location
The new Greensboro Aquatic center is located in the Greensboro Colosseum Complex.
Who Can Swim
A National meet places some restrictions on who can participate. To be eligible to compete, you must be a Registered Masters swimmer at least 18 years of age by April 25. Your age group will be determined by your age on April 29. A swimmer may compete in 3 events without meeting any of the qualifying times. Those swimmers with qualifying times may swim a total of 6 events but no more than 3 in any one day. The qualifying times for Nationals may be found at National Qualifying Times
Age Groups
The age groups willbe the same as normally used in Masters Swimming. This is as follows: 18-24, 25-29, 30-34, continuing in 5-year intervals to 100+
Relay age groups are as follows. 18+, 25+, 35+, 45+ and on in 10-year intervals.
Daily Events
Wednesday, 25 April will have no competition but will allow warm-up and provide for a general meeting of officials and volunteers. The remaining days will have competition. Please note that some events will require a positive check-in.
| Day and Date | Event | Checking or additional details |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, 26 April | 1000 Free | Positive Check-in required |
| 1650 Free | positive Check-in required | Friday, 27 April | 400 IM | positive Check-in required |
| 100 FL | ||
| 200 Free | ||
| 50 Breaststroke | ||
| 100 Backstroke | ||
| 200 Mixed Free Relay | ||
| Saturday, 28 April | 500 Free for Women | Positive Check-in is required |
| 100 IM | ||
| 200 Backstroke | ||
| 100 Breaststroke | ||
| 50 Free | ||
| 200 Butterfly | ||
| 200 Mixed Medley Relay | ||
| 200 Freestyle Relay | ||
| Sunday, 29 April | 500 Free for Men | Positive Check-in is required |
| 200 Medley Relay | ||
| 50 Butterfly | ||
| 200 Breaststroke | ||
| 50 Backstroke | ||
| 100 Freestyle | ||
| 200 IM |
| Day | Event | In-Person or Onsite | Online |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday | 1000 Free | Thurs by 7am | Tues 7am to Thurs 7am |
| 1650 Free | Thurs by 9am | Tues 7am to Thurs 9am | |
| Friday | 400 IM | Fri by 7am | Tues 7am to Fri 7am |
| Saturday | 500 Free for Women | Sat by 7am | Tues 7am to Sat 7am |
| Sunday | 500 Free for Men | Sun by 7am | Tues 7am to Sun 7am |
Meet Setup
The following drawing illustrates the facility and relationship between the various events and the Aquatic Center.
The following illustrates the layout of the pool showing the courses, the warm-up pools, seating, and facilities.
Awards
Medals will be made for 1st to 10th place.
Social Events
There will be severalevents and activities associated with the Championships. Include some of these in your plans for the meet.
- Officials Reception
- This will be held Thursday, at 7pm in the ACC Hall of Chamions. This will also include key volunteers.
- Downtown Entertainment District
- There will be a shuttle Friday evening from 6:30 to 11:30pm for those that want to travel to an excellent variety of activities down town.
- Swim Meet Social
- There will be a Meet Social on Saturday evening at 7:30pm at the Terrace
- This will be a buffet dinner with beer, wine, a band, and other goodies.
- Cost will be $25 per person.
Hotels
With a gathering as large as this is anticipated, early planning on where to stay and how to get around is important.
Hotels
| Hotel | Rate per night |
| Sheraton Greensboro-HQ | $129 |
| Baymont Inn | $72 |
| Best Western | $125 |
| Comfort Suites | $129.99 |
| Doubletree Hotel | $119 |
| Drury Inn | $99 |
| Greensboro Marriott | $119 |
| Hampton Inn | $99 |
| Park Lane | $99 |
Sponsorships
Each National Championships encourages sponsorships. The Greensboro meet sponsorships are as follows, along with associated benefits.
| Silver Medal level is $5 | This level grants participation at the Officials Reception and you will be listed in the Program listing. |
| Gold Medal level is $175 | This level provides food service each day of competition and you will be listed in the Program listing. |
| Event Sponsor level is $300 | This level will provide food service each day and the identification of what event you will be sponsoring in the program listing. Something like Men- 200 Butterfly is Sponsored by Don Gilchrist" |
Transportation, and Parking Details
There will be a Shuttle System in place for the Championships. The Shuttle will cost $20.00 but will provide pickup every 30 minutes or less. Taking the shuttle will allow parking at the hotels which provide free parking for all hotels, except for Marriott Hotel.
For those that wish to drive to the competition, parking will be $5.00 per day or you can purchase a $20.00 pass to cover all days.
Volunteering for the meet
As you can imagine, it takes a lot of people to efficiently run a meet like this. Several Hundred people will be needed. People are needed to fill positions in the following areas.
- Registration and Awards
- Hospitality
- Transportation
- Timers and Button Pushers
- Social Events
The RAM Board is currently considering RAM to provide volunteers for Registration and Awards.
