A kid swam the 500 all fly in a high school dual meet yesterday. His coach was furious and benched him for the rest of the meet. One of my lane mates this morning, who was the Starter at this meet said that was showboating and demeaning to the other competitors. I disagree. Was that any more demeaning than swimming free and lapping people? Plus, I saw the flyer ask everyone in the heat if it would bother them. Even on the blocks he said "Are you sure you guys are OK with this?"
OK, true. In a high school (or college) meet your obligation is to the team.
To me this is the whole point. It's obvious (by the coach's reaction) that the swimmer wasn't following team protocol. THAT was the issue. There's nothing wrong with swimming a 500 fly when you aren't affecting a team by doing so. My very young high school assistant coach had me swim a 500 breaststroke and my teammate swim 500 fly one year at a dual meet. We beat the other team's freestylers and he was in hot water after that. It made him (and our team) look like arrogant jerks - and he never made that mistake again.
OK, true. In a high school (or college) meet your obligation is to the team.
To me this is the whole point. It's obvious (by the coach's reaction) that the swimmer wasn't following team protocol. THAT was the issue. There's nothing wrong with swimming a 500 fly when you aren't affecting a team by doing so. My very young high school assistant coach had me swim a 500 breaststroke and my teammate swim 500 fly one year at a dual meet. We beat the other team's freestylers and he was in hot water after that. It made him (and our team) look like arrogant jerks - and he never made that mistake again.
