The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- December 20, 1999

A level playing pool

Swimming's time-conversion factor changed to balance short-course meters and yards

BY KERI POTTS
STAFF WRITER

In an effort to synchronize competition standards with United States Swimming and the international swimming scene, this year's Division I Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Championships will be swum as 25-meter short-course competitions instead of 25-yard meets.

The friendly gesture has highlighted the debut of the new time-conversion factor. Since most schools have 25-yard pools, the use of the conversion factor will be crucial in making student-athletes' dreams of swimming in the NCAA championships a reality.

In previous years with previous conversion factors, athletes who competed in meters were at a disadvantage to qualify for the championships. According to Bob Clauson, the man behind the research that led to the two most recent conversion-factor reductions, when the conversion factor was at 0.914, swimmers had to, in some events, set American records in order to make the A-cut and to guarantee a spot in the championship.

For the 1998-99 season, the conversion factor was reduced from 0.914. to 0.901. Yet, even after the new factor was put in place, some coaches said times achieved in meters that were converted to times achieved in yards still didn't seem right.

The discrepancy in times alerted Lee Lawrence, head coach at the U.S. Naval Academy, to the possibility the conversion factor of 0.901 was giving a disadvantage to short-course meters swimmers. "Our times were always slower in March after converting, and that shouldn't be," Lawrence said.

Navy has a 25-meter pool and relies on the conversion factor to accurately convert meter times to yards.

"The factor of 0.901 was fairly close, but not quite right," he said.

For Lawrence, "not quite right" was not quite good enough; "not quite right" may have kept some swimmers from qualifying for last year's championships.

Lawrence voiced his concerns to Susan Peterson Lubow, secretary-rules editor for the NCAA Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Committee, and together they pushed for a reduction in the conversion factor.

"When we decided to go to 25 meters, we knew we had to take action immediately so that the conversion factor was as close as possible," Lubow said.

Researching the data

Clauson was called upon to research the conversion factor and determine if a new one was needed. He used several methods to reach his conclusion, poring through two years' worth of results from Navy. He tracked several swimmers and their times over the course of those two years.

Navy swimmers often alternate between short-course yards and short-course meters pools for meets during the season, providing a consistent sample of times to be studied.

"I started comparing records. I looked at results from swimmers at the University of Southern California," Clauson said.

He also conferred with the head statistician for swimming's international governing body, FINA, who had calculated a conversion factor of 0.893.

Clauson's efforts resulted in a new conversion factor that he said brings NCAA swimming "a lot closer than we have been" to using an appropriate standard.

In September, the swimming and diving committee approved the reduction of the conversion factor from 0.901 to 0.896 for the 1999-00 season.

Several benefits

The change, though it seems slight, likely will mean a world of difference to the swimmers who qualify for this year's championships, in more ways than one.

More collegiate swimmers stand to qualify for the championships, bringing more equality to the event between student-athletes who swim in 25-yard pools and those who swim in 25-meter pools.

The new factor also allows coaches more flexibility in scheduling meets in short-course meter facilities without jeopardizing a student-athlete's chance to achieve a qualifying time.

Once in the championships, collegiate swimmers can see how they stack up internationally in the world rankings.

The switch from yards to meters "gives the international scene a boost for American swimmers," said R. Wayne Burrow, NCAA assistant director of championships and staff liaison to the committee. "It sets the framework for international competition during an Olympic year."

Eddie Reese, head coach at the University of Texas at Austin, has high expectations for the results of this year's championships. "I think (the NCAA is) going to wind up with many top-10 world rankings after the meet," he said.

Comparison challenge

Despite the positive aspects of both changes, Clauson said there is one drawback. "The reality is you really can't compare yards and meters. Meters are 10 percent longer than yards."

A student-athlete who has trained for the 50-yard freestyle must swim an extra five feet in a 50-meter freestyle event. As the length of the event increases, so does the amount of extra distance that must be swum to finish the race.

"Some swimmers might not handle the extra distance as well," Clauson said.

As for the accuracy of the conversion factor, Burrow said, "By the number of questions we've received regarding which is better to swim in -- yards or meters -- to us that means the factor is right on."

He said if coaches don't see enough of a difference in times between yard and meter pools, "that means we've done our research."

Lubow agreed. "I sit here confident that we did the best we could to be as fair as we could. We took a proactive step in the right direction," she said.

A possible concern over the use of a meters pool for the championships is that swimming in yards will become extinct. After all, the rest of the world swims in meters and that is how world records are determined.

But Burrow said the future of Americans swimming in yards is safe for now. "This in no way is an attempt to get rid of 25-yard pools and competition," Burrow said. "Swimming in yards is what makes American swimming unique."

For a sport that gets highlighted once every four years, Kevin McNamee, committee chair and associate director of athletics at George Mason University, said he views the switch to a short-course meters pool as an opportunity to gain publicity for the sport. "We have athletes from all over the world competing at the collegiate level, and we have arguably one of the fastest swim meets in the world," he said.

To accommodate the majority of swimmers, the meet still will be seeded in yards. This year's championships are viewed as a test-run of the 25-meter pool.

"Depending on the feedback we get, we'll decide when and if we'll use the 25-meter pool for championships competition and if the conversion factor is valid,' Burrow said.