Prelims/Finals at SC Nationals?

finals ----one and done!  I sure would not like to swim the 200 fly and 400 I'm twice !!!

I've sometimes thought it would be interesting to have a "national" level meet that is a combination of timed finals by age group, AND a combined final. Think of it as running like USMS Nationals is run now, with timed finals and awards by age group, but in each event, the *overall* top 8 swim an *overall* final. (Or maybe the overall top 16 swim A & B finals.

There would be some interesting strategy that would depend on one's objective. If you want to win, (or place high) in your age group, obviously you go 100% for the regular timed final, but there might be better competition in the overall final, so if you are going for a record, you might try to leave a little in the tank in the timed final to save your best performance for the overall final. It would also give the opportunity for top-level performers to go head-to-head with a nemesis in a different age group.

I know this is outside the USMS rules so it won't happen, but I've speculated about it to my amusement.

I've sometimes thought it would be interesting to have a "national" level meet that is a combination of timed finals by age group, AND a combined final. Think of it as running like USMS Nationals is run now, with timed finals and awards by age group, but in each event, the *overall* top 8 swim an *overall* final. (Or maybe the overall top 16 swim A & B finals.

There would be some interesting strategy that would depend on one's objective. If you want to win, (or place high) in your age group, obviously you go 100% for the regular timed final, but there might be better competition in the overall final, so if you are going for a record, you might try to leave a little in the tank in the timed final to save your best performance for the overall final. It would also give the opportunity for top-level performers to go head-to-head with a nemesis in a different age group.

I know this is outside the USMS rules so it won't happen, but I've speculated about it to my amusement.

"Interesting" is as far as this idea should go.  I've been to many local meets with mixed heats due to time and/or lane restrictions and they are a lot of fun knowing how fast or slow people in your heat will be going but Nationals is and has always been very competitive at any speed.  A good training cycle takes 18-36 months and anything but a 100% effort in every heat at Nationals is a waste of time, effort, and fun with the best and most dedicated of your peers.

I mean, I know they're younger, but college swimmers seem to manage 4 month training cycles and prelim/finals.  And the Olympic lineup is prelim/semi/finals and they seem to do fine...  If anything, Masters training cycles should be shorter because we most likely need more recovery.

Jeff Enge said:

If anything, Masters training cycles should be shorter because we most likely need more recovery

True, but it depends on the kind of recovery. In my late-middle 50s now, I've discovered that recovery between workouts day-to-day just keeps getting slower and slower. Even with good hydration, nutrition and sleep, I'm often just not in a position to put in another hard workout after 24 hours. I need to build more light days and rest days into my training. On the other hand, taking time off after a training cycle seems almost counter-productive. When I was younger, it seemed like taking a few weeks or a month off after a period of training hard helped my body recover, reinvigorated my enthusiasm for training and was generally beneficial. Now, any extended break seems to lead to detraining that is almost impossible to recover. For example, last year, on account of the pandemic, instead of swimming I had been cycling/spinning/drylands diligently. I made slow but measurable gains in performance from June-early December. Then I was forced to dramatically cut back my training for 1.5-2 weeks. I wasn't really "sick", but had some physical issues that severely limited my training. It was months before I got back what I lost in those 10 days or so, and to this day there are still some metrics of physical performance that I could meet last December that I have been unable to match. We have an upcoming family vacation. We will do our best to be active, but I'm suspicious that I may never again see some of  the performance metrics I can meet today. I may have reached the point in life where there is no such thing as a "break", or at least I have to accept that taking a break means giving up certain physical capabilities, permanently.

Long story short: My take, masters need longer breaks between workouts and shorter breaks between training cycles.