SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side.
Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers if they would be interested in a SCM championship meet on North American soil in non-SC Worlds years:
Question: In non-SC Worlds years, should the U.S./North America run a SCM championship meet (like SC Euros)?
RESULTS
- Yes – 75.9%
- No – 24.1%
After we previously only really saw American swimmers race short course meters once every two years at SC Worlds, top names have been embracing the format recently. Some of the best U.S. swimmers are starting to attend the annual World Cup series with regularity and taking it seriously, as the world record books will show.
However, it almost felt like something was missing this year. The three-leg World Cup in October was exciting, and featured several world records going down, and then last week, European swimmers had the opportunity to close out their short course season with a continental championship meet.
However, for the American (or Canadian) swimmers, that chance wasn’t there. Instead, they raced the U.S. Open, which is an early December staple on the domestic swimming calendar, but is contested in long course meters when the rest of the world is still swimming SCM.
Instead, perhaps it would’ve been more intriguing to viewers to see the likes of Gretchen Walsh, Kate Douglass, Summer McIntosh and all the rest taper for a short course meter championship meet, the North American SCM Championships, or something of the like, maybe also including the Central and South American countries if it aligns with schedules.
Putting a meet like that biennially, alternating with Short Course Worlds, would give swimmers an opportunity to go for records and best times in a true taper meet, compared to the World Cup, where they have to manage to stay sharp amid continuous travel and competing three straight weekends. The U.S. and Canada could even use it as a qualifying opportunity for the following year’s SC Worlds.
We asked SwimSwam readers their opinion on hosting such a meet every two years, and more than three-quarters, 75.9%, are in favor of having it.
Of course, whether or not USA Swimming would go for this, potentially sacrificing their U.S. Open slot, is another question, but it is an interesting idea as the push to garner more interest in the sport is seemingly more prevalent than ever.
Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks: What was the best swim from the Short Course European Championships?
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ABOUT A3 PERFORMANCE
The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner.
If you are going to consider something like this, why not make it a Pan American Championship.
Makes a better meet if you include Mexico, countries in Central America and South America.
Honestly it should include South America too
Yeah, just make it the whole western hemisphere.
New poll is wrong – same as last poll