Thanks to everyone who replied to my post requesting info on participating in my first meet. Now, I have one more question: how do I choose which events to enter? I am currently a VERY SLOW swimmer. My 50 free times are on par with my teammates' 100 frees. My 200 free takes nearly four minutes, though competitive times in my age group are in the realm of 2:30 - 2:50. You get the picture. My dead grandmother can swim faster than me!
Despite my severe lack of speed, I have been strongly encouraged to participate in an upcoming meet. How do I choose an event since I am bad at everything? (Don't tell me to chose an event that I'd enjoy; I have no idea what that might be.)
Any suggestions?
Parents
Former Member
The answer to this question depends on whether the meet is one day or two, and whether a lot of people are there.
If the meet is two days, you can only pick what is on that day, not from every possible event.
If a lot of people are at the meet, that means more rest between events, so you could do more events. You will get tired!
I'd say swim as many events (up to 5 permitted daily) as you think you can handle. Many swimmers much faster than me do not do 5 every day, so don't feel any compulsion to do so. I would suggest that the more you do, the more times you'll have for comparison when you are faster later, and the more experience you'll get. Also, less time sitting around watching and more time racing! I think 3 a day would be pretty good for a smaller meet.
Don't worry about your times, you'll be with people about your speed, and most people will think you're gutsy for coming to your first meet, however fast you go.
What you might pick depends on what strokes you can legally do. If you can't do fly, you can't swim it!
These are my suggestions, in order. If you can't swim a stroke, just ignore that event and IM in the list.
50 free
50 back
50 ***
100 free
100 IM
50 fly
200 free
100 back
100 ***
200 IM
500 free
100 fly
Doing a 50 of every stroke is fun because you can compare your speed in each.
I personally have rarely done freestyle events at meets, so try to find a list that feels right to you.
Swim fast,
Greg
The answer to this question depends on whether the meet is one day or two, and whether a lot of people are there.
If the meet is two days, you can only pick what is on that day, not from every possible event.
If a lot of people are at the meet, that means more rest between events, so you could do more events. You will get tired!
I'd say swim as many events (up to 5 permitted daily) as you think you can handle. Many swimmers much faster than me do not do 5 every day, so don't feel any compulsion to do so. I would suggest that the more you do, the more times you'll have for comparison when you are faster later, and the more experience you'll get. Also, less time sitting around watching and more time racing! I think 3 a day would be pretty good for a smaller meet.
Don't worry about your times, you'll be with people about your speed, and most people will think you're gutsy for coming to your first meet, however fast you go.
What you might pick depends on what strokes you can legally do. If you can't do fly, you can't swim it!
These are my suggestions, in order. If you can't swim a stroke, just ignore that event and IM in the list.
50 free
50 back
50 ***
100 free
100 IM
50 fly
200 free
100 back
100 ***
200 IM
500 free
100 fly
Doing a 50 of every stroke is fun because you can compare your speed in each.
I personally have rarely done freestyle events at meets, so try to find a list that feels right to you.
Swim fast,
Greg
