Read it again (first few); all but one were named: Noriko (PSC), Nick, and Phoenix Swim Club (PSC) relays. The other individual (PSC) not named but referred to later from Greensboro either was talked to or decided to enter appropriate times this time around although did not end up swimming.
And if you see winning a national championship from a slower seeded heat as respectful/fair to others without a prelims/finals format then I will not be able to convince you otherwise.
My mistake on the names.
As for winning a national championship from a slower heat being fair/respectful- if Noriko has a lane, she's winning a national championship. Regardless of heat assignment. It's an inevitability unless she gets DQd. To me, it's a moot point. It's not like there was a single female in attendance at Mt. Hood that would have even been within striking distance of any of her backstroke times if we'd been in the same heat as her. So, taking the long view, it's not really worth getting bent about.
Just for illustrative purposes:
Even with prelims/finals, and assuming we all swam the same times in finals, the next closest swimmer to her would have been 4.5, 8.5, and 14 seconds behind her (50, 100, and 200 back, respectively). Plus being backstroke, it's not like we're really going to see her anyways. For full disclosure, the swimmer who was 8.5 and 14 seconds behind her was me. It doesn't bother me that she wasn't right next to me for the 200 (she was next to me in the 100), because I know she's going to beat me 10/10 times we race. I guess that's why I can't understand why someone else who has no horse in the race cares so much. If anyone out there has a right to be :bitching: , it would be the swimmer who got 2nd in the 50 free who didn't get a chance to race her head-to-head.
In the end, different stroke for different folks, I guess.
Read it again (first few); all but one were named: Noriko (PSC), Nick, and Phoenix Swim Club (PSC) relays. The other individual (PSC) not named but referred to later from Greensboro either was talked to or decided to enter appropriate times this time around although did not end up swimming.
And if you see winning a national championship from a slower seeded heat as respectful/fair to others without a prelims/finals format then I will not be able to convince you otherwise.
My mistake on the names.
As for winning a national championship from a slower heat being fair/respectful- if Noriko has a lane, she's winning a national championship. Regardless of heat assignment. It's an inevitability unless she gets DQd. To me, it's a moot point. It's not like there was a single female in attendance at Mt. Hood that would have even been within striking distance of any of her backstroke times if we'd been in the same heat as her. So, taking the long view, it's not really worth getting bent about.
Just for illustrative purposes:
Even with prelims/finals, and assuming we all swam the same times in finals, the next closest swimmer to her would have been 4.5, 8.5, and 14 seconds behind her (50, 100, and 200 back, respectively). Plus being backstroke, it's not like we're really going to see her anyways. For full disclosure, the swimmer who was 8.5 and 14 seconds behind her was me. It doesn't bother me that she wasn't right next to me for the 200 (she was next to me in the 100), because I know she's going to beat me 10/10 times we race. I guess that's why I can't understand why someone else who has no horse in the race cares so much. If anyone out there has a right to be :bitching: , it would be the swimmer who got 2nd in the 50 free who didn't get a chance to race her head-to-head.
In the end, different stroke for different folks, I guess.
