Question to throw to the group out of curiosity -- What do people think about reasonable seed times for swim meets? Now, I know that people almost always enter masters meets with times that are best guesses, but what about entry times that are definitely not best guesses?
Hypothetical scenario: 400 IM and 50 free are back-to-back events at an end-of-season championship meet. Swimmer enters both events, with a time of 15:00.00 for the 400 IM, and 23.50 for the 50 free. For other events in the meet, the same swimmer is entered at 2:06 for the 200 IM, 2:10 for the 200 fly, etc. So _clearly_ this person is faster than 15:00 in the 400 IM. When asked, the swimmer says, honestly, that the seed time is bogus so that he has a longer rest before swimming the 50 free right afterwards. (The meet info for this hypothetical situation does _not_ allow for 'NT' entries.)
What do people think about this? I can't find any USMS rule that prohibits this, but it feels rather unfair to the other people in Heat 1 who actually do belong in Heat 1, and will have some fast person in an outside lane lap them a couple times. My personal feeling is that if the order of events doesn't work for you, then don't swim one of the events.
Thoughts?
-Rick
Parents
Former Member
I know that when my daughter, swimming USS, was trying to get her junior national 100 backstroke cut during the first half of the 200 back, she had to notify the starter and the swimmers in the lanes immediately beside her. I cannot quote the rule.
Also, recently, I read on the Chicago Tribune Prep Swimming Bulletin Board that a swimmer who had swum a 1:50 in the 200 free in his prelims, was DQ'd for unsportsmanlike conduct in the finals for swimming a 2:07. The real penalty was that he was not allowed to swim on a relay later that evening - the relay that he was "resting" for. He essentially was keeping someone else from finals that could have taken his place.
I realize this is pretty much the opposite of what this thread started out to be, but I thought I would just throw it in. Personally, I think as Masters, we have to be adult enough to be flexible. Most of the time, we do not swim against the competition of our age group anyway. The only time we really get to is at Nationals. If someone wants to put in a slow time for a 500 free so that he/she can get some rest before the next event, then so be it. There is no physical impact to the other lanes of swimmers. When meets do not have enough people to support resting between the events you want to swim, then you gotta do what you gotta do.
I know that when my daughter, swimming USS, was trying to get her junior national 100 backstroke cut during the first half of the 200 back, she had to notify the starter and the swimmers in the lanes immediately beside her. I cannot quote the rule.
Also, recently, I read on the Chicago Tribune Prep Swimming Bulletin Board that a swimmer who had swum a 1:50 in the 200 free in his prelims, was DQ'd for unsportsmanlike conduct in the finals for swimming a 2:07. The real penalty was that he was not allowed to swim on a relay later that evening - the relay that he was "resting" for. He essentially was keeping someone else from finals that could have taken his place.
I realize this is pretty much the opposite of what this thread started out to be, but I thought I would just throw it in. Personally, I think as Masters, we have to be adult enough to be flexible. Most of the time, we do not swim against the competition of our age group anyway. The only time we really get to is at Nationals. If someone wants to put in a slow time for a 500 free so that he/she can get some rest before the next event, then so be it. There is no physical impact to the other lanes of swimmers. When meets do not have enough people to support resting between the events you want to swim, then you gotta do what you gotta do.
