{"id":392849,"date":"2019-09-03T04:00:02","date_gmt":"2019-09-03T11:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=392849"},"modified":"2019-09-02T20:47:35","modified_gmt":"2019-09-03T03:47:35","slug":"swimming-world-presents-a-voice-for-the-sport-does-usa-swimming-need-to-revisit-its-selection-date-for-world-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/swimming-world-presents-a-voice-for-the-sport-does-usa-swimming-need-to-revisit-its-selection-date-for-world-championships\/","title":{"rendered":"Swimming World Presents “A Voice For the Sport: Does USA Swimming Need to Revisit Its Selection Date For World Championships?”"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Voice For the Sport: <\/span><\/h1>\n

Does USA Swimming Need to Revisit Its
\nSelection Date For World Championships?<\/span><\/h2>\n

By Brent Rutemiller<\/span><\/p>\n

USA Swimming changed the date for selecting its World Championship team in the early \u201990s to be a year in advance of the competition. That early selection date has not changed for the past two-and-a-half decades. The original intent for early selection was to allow swimmers to focus training for the World Championships for an entire year in advance.<\/p>\n

When the early selection date schedule was first implemented, there were no professional swimmers, no professional series of meets, no prize money and no incentives for the athletes to taper or rest outside of the NCAA Championships. Athletes swam for medals and best times. Club and college swimmers had no reason to lose their focus on the World Championships.<\/p>\n

According to Mark Schubert, all of that has changed and it is time to revisit that policy: \u201cThe theory was that everybody would work hard a year in advance in preparation for the Olympics. That just has not happened. People are now resting for the pro meets, international meets, and I don\u2019t feel there was a sense of urgency for the World Championships this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two coaches on USA Swimming\u2019s Steering Committee, who wanted to remain anonymous in order to not influence any future decision process, said that they really like not having a selection meet the year before the Olympics. The collective thought was that if the team was selected this year, they would have had to taper and rest this year, re-taper for the Championships, and then taper again for NCAAs in the spring of next year, and then again for the USA Trials and then again for the Olympics.<\/p>\n

Both said they like having a year off in the quad where there wasn\u2019t any pressure of a selection meet. They added that the \u201cmoney meets\u201d was not a deterrent to training.<\/p>\n

When asked about the increase in \u201cmoney meets\u201d as a deterrent to training, David Salo pointed out that some athletes get in just as much yardage during competition as they do in training. \u201cIf you add in the warm-up, warm-down, multiple races in a day, prelims and finals, it all adds up to a lot of training. I think the increase in race frequency is actually an advantage now versus then,\u201d said Salo.<\/p>\n

Schubert remains concerned: \u201cI just did not have a sense that there was that urgency for the World Championships this year. Those swimmers competed in some form of competition prior to the World Championships in which there were incentives to taper or rest in order to compete for prize money.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think the whole concept of people working hard for an entire year before the Olympic year has been lost, and I think it showed at this year\u2019s World Championships,\u201d said Schubert.<\/p>\n

Schubert still believes that a selection date that is closer to the actual championship meet gives the young athlete an opportunity to evolve quickly and helps the club coach to evolve alongside the athlete.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw it with Katie Ledecky while in high school. We need to send a message to the club coaches that they can still do it, and that those club swimmers are still developing\u2014like 17-year-old Regan Smith. They need to feel like they can do it before they get to college,\u201d said Schubert.<\/p>\n

Gregg Troy put it best when he said, \u201cThe results are not in as of yet. Let\u2019s see how we do next year at the Olympics before we judge the benefits of an early selection.\u201d<\/p>\n

USA Swimming is a mix of high school, college and pro swimmers\u2014all with different needs and expectations. Some are proven and some are untested. In any event, this topic will be revisited again after Tokyo 2020. v<\/p>\n

Check out the September 2019 issue of Swimming World Magazine<\/em>, available now!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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