Looks like it is to gain 20 minutes of rest before doing the 400 IM.
What do you folks think? Fair play or not?
I say anyone attempting the 1650 and 400 IM back to back deserves some slack.
Plus sprinters are very capable of operating the counters for the distance freaks too.
I really don't think it is fair to put a derogatory label on distance swimmers. They are just as baffled by sprints as sprinters are unable to comprehend pace. Could be a reason for their disdain for sandbagging.
My college roommate, team co-captain and good friend to this day is a distance swimmer. I told him that after all these years I finally found a way to swim distance so it is actually fun for me instead of painful. He has a tough time understanding my routine/strategy of doing a descending swim instead of an even pace. I have found as a side benefit that swimming a distance race in a meet (almost always the first event in local meets) doesn't preclude me from doing well in sprints later. It acts as an intense warmup that I would otherwise avoid in order to save my energy.
Plus sprinters are very capable of operating the counters for the distance freaks too.
I really don't think it is fair to put a derogatory label on distance swimmers. They are just as baffled by sprints as sprinters are unable to comprehend pace. Could be a reason for their disdain for sandbagging.
My college roommate, team co-captain and good friend to this day is a distance swimmer. I told him that after all these years I finally found a way to swim distance so it is actually fun for me instead of painful. He has a tough time understanding my routine/strategy of doing a descending swim instead of an even pace. I have found as a side benefit that swimming a distance race in a meet (almost always the first event in local meets) doesn't preclude me from doing well in sprints later. It acts as an intense warmup that I would otherwise avoid in order to save my energy.
