Are Elite Swimmers at Futures Championships a Problem? This all changed coming out of the pandemic. Im also glad the conversation isnt centered around age-restricting the Futures meets like some of the other articles comment sections. | Privacy SettingsDo Not Sell My Personal Information, WATCH: Sam Stewart Blast 1:56.91 200 IM at College Station Futures, 15 Year Old Lily King Swims 25.62 50 Free on Final Day of Geneva Futures, Gracie Weyant Swims 2:14.93 200 IM on Final Night of Cary Sectionals, 14 YO Abby King Swims 2:32.75 200 Breast on Night 3 of Geneva Futures, Jorge Murillo Wins Mens 200 Breast in 2:12.74 at Cary Futures on Night 3, Bluefish Shines on Day 2 of Geneva Futures Winning 3 Events, 16-Year Old Michael Mullen Swims 4:21 in 400 IM at Cary Sectionals, #13 All-Time, Macguire McDuff Wins Mens 100 Free in 49.06 on Night 2 of Cary Futures, Share Are Elite Swimmers at Futures Championships a Problem? I dont think having swimmers with Junior Nationals cuts is really a problem theres more value, from a Future standpoint, to an athlete getting a prelims/finals swim at Futures than finishing 98th at Junior Nationals. By signing up, I agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive emails from POPSUGAR. There seems to be a problem serving the request at this time, VIKTORIA & AND WOODS Beige Cream White Mini Top Shirt Jacket Blazer Dress Coat, ViNTaGe Black Red Lace Spanish Lolita Hi-Lo Train Gown! Shop the items our editors are giving their seal of approval. The 30 year old Jorge Murillo swam the event at both the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics as he competed for Colombia. McDuff is a rising sophomore at Florida and has now dropped almost a full two seconds in the 100 free over the last year. I would love to see USA Swimming go back to a time ceiling program at Futures meets. What Does Josh Mathenys Long Course Breakthrough Mean for US Breaststroking. If there was a problem, it was probably that many events had too few swimmers, and therefore couldnt fill the C and D finals. Futures should be the Come One Come All Championships. Plus, those meets are more of a regional designation (Sectionals) than a purpose designation (Futures), even in name. It would be interesting to get the perspective of those elite athletes in College Station. 8 Transitional Dresses That Are as Stylish as They Are Affordable, My Apple AirTags Gave Me Peace of Mind Throughout My European Vacation, Parade and Urban Outfitters Just Launched the Intimates Collab of Our Dreams, 26 DIY Taylor Swift Halloween Costumes That Are Super Easy to Recreate, The Real Reason Noa Went to Juvie in "Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin", Double the Trouble This Halloween With These Pop Culture Costumes For Best Friends, 44 of the Sexiest Horror Movies of All Time, 6 Connections Between "Pretty Little Liars" and "PLL: Original Sin" You May Have Missed, The Harrowing True Story of the Cave Rescue That Inspired "Thirteen Lives", Sandra Bullock Doesn't Need "Paper" to Be "Devoted" to Boyfriend Bryan Randall, Beyonc Confirms She's Removing Criticized Lyric From New Song "Heated", Bindi Irwin's Daughter Can't Hold Back Excitement Over Photo of "Grandpa Crocodile" Steve Irwin, Who Is "A" in "Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin"? The meets purpose was never stated as a stepping stone for junior athletes, but rather a stepping stone between local and national championships. Perhaps if a swimmer is over a certain age, like 21 (the age when most are wrapping their college careers), a one-Nationals-standard cap could be put in place. This season shouldve been prep for US trials or other international LCM trials and competition, so they should be racing against top athletes from all over the US & the world in the few LCM seasons they have. Junior Nationals should be the 18 and under National Championships. Flamenco Tango Prom, Louis Vuitton dress in navy woolcashmere blend with silk and sequin trim, Halpern Sequined Tulle Turtleneck Mini Dress in Silver Polyester, Halpern Asymmetric Cutout Sequined Mini Dress in Red Polyester, Marchesa Notte Sequined Gown in Black Polyester, Alexander Wang Square Neck Fitted Sequin Dress in Black Nylon. Plus, with fewer Futures meets, the energy gets ratcheted up from a fast meet to a championship meet in a hurry. I agree with this. For one, we have to give elitessomewhere to compete there arent enough National Championship meets to go around. 2022 Swim Swam Partners, LLC. In 2016, that was changed to swimmers with one or more US Open standard swims, which at the time were usually the same at Olympic Trials standards in long course, but with a matching short course standard. on Pinterest, Share Are Elite Swimmers at Futures Championships a Problem? In part, the meets were fast because we saw more-than-usual senior-aged swimmers, especially those who we would normally see at the US National Championships, racing at the meets. Afterall, young swimmers love racing against their heroes the kind of opportunity that doesnt come often in most sports. Scheduling on an overlap with Nationals is a great idea, and probably solves a big piece of the problem. Most notably, the mensRead more , Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. Something went wrong. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. This increase suspense and intensity for Nationals, while giving everyone and anyone a chance to have qualified in every event they possibly can, with the culmination meet being Nationals, period. Copyright 1995-2022 eBay Inc. All Rights Reserved. Weyants time would have finished fifth at US International Team Trials in April, an event she finished 12th in there. That depends on who you ask. My teammates and I swam at Futures knowing that it would take significant lifetime bests to make finals, versus if we had rested for an LSC or sectionals meet, we couldve been getting second swims in all of our events. Now, its just another money marker meet. There were many HS swimmers who made the older swimmers work hard for their spots in College Station. This ideal remained intact as recently as 2019 the last Futures meets before the pandemic. Thats what we want of all professional and elite level sports, right? Maybe I would feel more strongly if I had a swimmer who was negatively-disadvantaged by the presence of currents at the Futures meets, but so long as those elites are showing up and taking the event seriously as a championship event (Sam Stewart, for one, clearly was), I dont really mind it at the current level. Last weekends USA Swimming Futures Championships were arguably the best those meets have ever been. If swimmers are bothered by the fact that they are not making finals, they can either swim faster or target slower meets. Instead they got to race their teammates (again) and HS swimmers. I also agree that having an elite level swimmer brings the energy up for a race or event. After Breakthrough at Senior Nationals, Norvy Clontz Drops 1500 Free at Juniors, Olympic Champ Bobby Finke Going Pro, Foregoing Final Season of NCAA Eligibility. We pulled out of the Geneva meet (flights & travel into Cleveland) to drive to Pittsburgh because it was going to be more reliable and cost effective for our team. I watched the Minneapolis meet, and I would say it lived up to the goal youre aiming for. Please select the topics you're interested in: Would you like to turn on POPSUGAR desktop notifications to get breaking news ASAP? Submit Are Elite Swimmers at Futures Championships a Problem? Picture a 19-year old swimmer, a late bloomer, and the size of the chasm between Sectionals and Nationals (because they no longer have a Junior Nationals option). I also have the same issue with Sectionals on USA Swimming they had Sectionals Max Qualifying times but I have never seen it enforced. But this raised a lot of eyebrows about whether opportunities were being taken away from swimmers for whom the Futures Championships were designed: athletes looking to make the leap from Sectionals meets to National meets. Futures was meant to be part of the progression to Nationals. These meets strategically placed is where they should be instead of flooding these Sectionals and Futures meets that are geared toward the 18&U and taking opportunities away from them. 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But I still think I agree with that dichotomy in my mind, even though theres a ladder of sorts that USA Swimming has developed. Shop Our 13 Favorite New Arrivals, 15 New Products on Amazon You'll Want This Month, Your August 2022 Horoscope Wants You to Get Your Life in Order, TikTok's "Internal Shower" Drink Is Just a Fiber Bomb and That's Not Great, 7 Rules to Remember to Become a Better Recycler, Whatever You're Craving This Summer, We've Got the Ideal Activity for You, I Get Why the Internet Is Obsessed With This $89 Carry-On From Walmart, These Home Products From Urban Outfitters Are Making Us Want to Redecorate, 10 Spell Candles Crafted to Bring You Love, Prosperity, and More. The Futures Championships in College Station last weekend wound up being an important meet for Sam Stewart, but do National Teamers belong at these events? I have complained about the college swimmers at the Futures meet selfishly because I know its hard for swimmers aged 15 to 18 years old to be successful at this level. While they saved costs, some wouldve preferred to test themselves against elite swimmers that they dont train with every day. For Stewart, the opportunity was a good one, because he went a new best time in the 200 IM. to Reddit, Share Are Elite Swimmers at Futures Championships a Problem? Michael Mullen of the Bolles School Sharks won a Futures title in the 400 IM for the second-straight year, this time moving to 12th-place all-time in his age group. 9 Convincing Fan Theories, Quinta Brunson Loves Drugstore Shopping Just Like the Rest of Us, North West Gives Kim Kardashian an Impressive "Minions" Makeover on TikTok, Reminder: Kristen Bell Isn't Actually Covered in Tattoos, The Revival of Goth Makeup Plus How to Create the Look, 25 Old Navy New Arrivals That Will Get You Excited for Fall Fashion, Dua Lipa's Catsuit, Tinashe's Low-Rise Pants, and More Lollapalooza Looks, Target's Joanna Gaines Fall Collection Is Here! Summer Nationals should absolutely be the last meet of the year, with all pre nationals meets being in the last 20 days of July. The best racing the best at their best. Then, swimmers could not have standards for Nationals and swim Futures, except in one specific case: Futures meets began on August 1, and if a swimmer hit their first Nationals cut after June 3, they could still swim Futures, but not that event where they had a Nationals cut. I think some of these older swimmers should get opportunities to race but it should be meets like Speedo Grand Challenge (hosted by NOVA- Irvine) or Ultraswim (by swim mac). I dontlove it, but with just a handful of these elites showing up at any one meet, I do think the problem has been overblown. That was especially true at the College Station site, where several undergrads and post-grads that are part of the Texas A&M University group made appearances. On some level, these moves make sense. Lets change the Name of the meet. The difference-of-opinion could be a recency bias, because Futures meets were created in my lifetime, and Sectionals were not. When Futures resumed in 2021, the time ceiling rules were gone. Also highlighting the night was UNC commit (2022) Aislin Farris of Bluefish picking up a win in the womens 200 IM with a 2:18.10 pictured above. Florida commit Josh Parent swam a 4:22.51 to win the mens 400 IM. Could the imbalanced regions be contributing to this problem? Weve heard similar complaints about Sectionals in the past, and that bothers me less. Kings time was a best time by almost two seconds and now puts her at #38 in the 13-14 age group in the event all-time. I think even the stars of the meet were hitting PBs to win, rather than being national-teamers just getting reps in. Junior Nationals should be the following week. I also agree that there shouldnt be a cap on age at Futures- why penalize the late bloomer? Several swimmers and their families were not happy that their championship meet was just against their teammates in their home pool. View cart for details. Get your daily life hack right in your inbox. At the end of the day, I think some sort of time ceiling or if you have XX Jr/SR nat cuts, you can only swim Y race at Futures, and it cant be the event that you have JR/SR nat cuts in. Its a give-and-take that each swimmer must face: am I ok with probably only getting one swim at this higher level meet, or should I go to a lower level meet for two chances? Some of the people bothered by this are club coaches or parents of young swimmers who are getting bumped down a spot or two by the elites. We always talk in swimming about how youre only racing the clock, but it becomes increasingly-clear year-after-year that this is not really true. Should You Be Worried If You Bleed After Sex? FTC Disclaimer | Terms of Use & Privacy Policy But I agree that the optics of it are not great, and that was not the purpose of these meets when they were created. So I think USA Swimming should continue to make these Futures meets unattractive to true elites. I could even be okay with a ceiling that said, maybe, if you only have a Nationals cut in one event, you can still swim at Futures. Allowing a developing swimmer to race six events at Futures could again be a superior experience than racing one event at Nationals. on Facebook. It is an opportunity for high-level, prelims-finals racing without leaving home. Futures Championships originally were restricted from swimmers with times for bigger national meets. That made sense in a lot of ways At the time those meets were planned, everyone was just looking for opportunities to race, and a lot of the real specific mission-statement stuff was set to the side. Archive photo via Jack Spitser/Spitser Photography. But I do recognize that the slope could be a slippery one, especially in the current atmosphere where elites are increasingly-often looking at ways to avoid pressure while racing. You said it best that the optics arent good when elite swimmers are at Futures. Watch Sam Stewart swim 1:56.91 in the 200 IM, becoming the ninth-fastest American of all time at College Station Futures. on LinkedIn, because he went a new best time in the 200 IM, 2022 Commonwealth Games: Day 4 Finals Live Recap, NCAA Publishes Division I 2022-2023 National Championship Standards. You dont magically qualifyRead more . Subscribe to our newsletter and receive our latest updates! Thats huge. But, at the same time, traveling in this country at the moment is utterly insane. I have no problem with College swimmers at Futures, as long as they dont have Junior or Senior National cuts. Those with trial cuts shouldve been in Irvine.