In the Nationals Forum their has been discussion about the decision to swim 200s at Nats by time only and not by age groups. forums.usms.org/showthread.php .Here is your chance to register your opinion for future reference.
I'm on the young end of the spectrum (in masters) at 29...so perhaps my thinking is skewed here. But, if I were a 60 year old who can still beat plenty of people 2-3 decades younger than me wouldnt it be sweet? At the end of the day it's best to compete with people that will push you to swim your fastest. Do you think Ryan Lochte says he won't swim agajnst anyone under 18 because they ate too young? Seed the heats slow to fast or the other way around, regardless of age.
Here is a problem with that, which was alluded to above.People don't do there seed times.This is particularly true for the less experience swimmers(please no sandbagging discussion.)Barring injury or illness I pretty much know what the guys I "worry"about in my age group swim.When I go to the SPMS SCM Zone meet I am usually swimming with younger swimmers in my heat and their times are generally not close to their entry times.A couple of years ago there, in the 200 BR, I was seeded 4th in the heat,finished second and was a second slower than my entry time.I was also the only one who split less than 6 sec slower on the first to second 100(I went out too fast,part of why I didn't get my seed time.)
I'm on the young end of the spectrum (in masters) at 29...so perhaps my thinking is skewed here. But, if I were a 60 year old who can still beat plenty of people 2-3 decades younger than me wouldnt it be sweet? At the end of the day it's best to compete with people that will push you to swim your fastest. Do you think Ryan Lochte says he won't swim agajnst anyone under 18 because they ate too young? Seed the heats slow to fast or the other way around, regardless of age.
Here is a problem with that, which was alluded to above.People don't do there seed times.This is particularly true for the less experience swimmers(please no sandbagging discussion.)Barring injury or illness I pretty much know what the guys I "worry"about in my age group swim.When I go to the SPMS SCM Zone meet I am usually swimming with younger swimmers in my heat and their times are generally not close to their entry times.A couple of years ago there, in the 200 BR, I was seeded 4th in the heat,finished second and was a second slower than my entry time.I was also the only one who split less than 6 sec slower on the first to second 100(I went out too fast,part of why I didn't get my seed time.)
