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?"
This is much ado about nothing. Not bragging OR showboating. Its competition. It was legal. Otherwise the competitor would have been disqualified. All of the points being made about playing fair or hurting another competitor's feelings are clutter and noise. Go play youth rec league soccer and collect your trophy at the end of the season. I have never, ever been in a situation where a coach would feel compelled to advise an athlete to compete differently out of compassion. Could the coach shuffle the line-up and have the sprinters compete in longer events and distance athletes in shorter, absolutely. The coach is well within his/her "lane" to conduct a little attitude adjustment at the next practice. For example the main set the next day might be 5 x 500 fly with the caveat of "How do you like me now?" I competed D1 in the 80's. We got trounced by another conference team every year. Did we complain? No. The race is against the clock.
This is much ado about nothing. Not bragging OR showboating. Its competition. It was legal. Otherwise the competitor would have been disqualified. All of the points being made about playing fair or hurting another competitor's feelings are clutter and noise. Go play youth rec league soccer and collect your trophy at the end of the season. I have never, ever been in a situation where a coach would feel compelled to advise an athlete to compete differently out of compassion. Could the coach shuffle the line-up and have the sprinters compete in longer events and distance athletes in shorter, absolutely. The coach is well within his/her "lane" to conduct a little attitude adjustment at the next practice. For example the main set the next day might be 5 x 500 fly with the caveat of "How do you like me now?" I competed D1 in the 80's. We got trounced by another conference team every year. Did we complain? No. The race is against the clock.
