Okay... I know, this is perhaps a little bit of a tongue in cheek question...
So often I hear people complaining about not enough 'distance' swims in zone and national meets, or meets in general.
Just having been involved in organizing my firat more serious swim meet I have to ask... Almost noone, or very few people want to swim the 200 fly, or 200 Brast or 200 back?
Is that not 'distance enough?'
I just got a zone meet medal in 200 back, not because I'm fast, but because noone wants to swim it.
How about some real endurance testing events like 400 or 800 Fly? 800 IM? How about a postal 800 IM?
Or 30 minute stroke check off challenge? One for each stroke, rather than just freestyle?
Okay, now that I tossed this out there, I think I'm gonna duck and run. ;)
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Originally posted by knelson
You know, it is sort of strange. Most of us train nearly year-round, several days per week. Yet we get to a meet and decide a 400 IM is too much pain. Heck, you're done with it in 5 minutes, give or take!
One problem with distance events (200s of stroke, 400 IM, or 500 and above free) is you can't fake your way through them. Anyone who's a good swimmer could step up on the blocks and knock out a nice 50 even if they haven't been in the water for a couple years, but I'd like to see them try a 500 free :) So maybe that's part of the problem. In Masters many of us can't devote a huge amount of time to training and it's just to humiliating to swim the longer events where you come nowhere near the times you swam when you were 12 years old. So this might be one area where you "late bloomers" have an advantage!!
What I found kind of ridiculous that I place second in a SW Zone meet doing the 200 back in 4 minutes 38 seconds. (35-39 age group) Painfully slow!!! (It was my first time doing it).
I'm baffled that in the entire SW Zone all of the 35-39 year olds... there were only two of us dong the event.
I mean, anyone that had swam that event more then once or had trained that stroke t least a little bit, or has some age group experience would have easily placed above my time. Wouldn't even have to swim it race-pace... just stretching it out would do.
Not that I mind a medal in an individual event, but getting second in 200 Back, and third in 100 back and third in 50 back in my age group at Zone championships (all first-time events for me and very slow)... getting 2nds and thirds for that is just plain wrong. Not that I mind the medal... but it was by default.
It was similar with 200 fly and 200 *** (I didn't swim those as I don't know those strokes well enough to not get DQ'd)
Then, on the other hand, we had people clamoring to swim 1500 free and 800 free, and few of them being little bummed that we had to limit that event to 8 heats.
I;'m not sure where I;m going with this... it's just an observation, and it's making me go Hmmm? What's up with that?
Is 200 fly not "enough of a distance?" or does distance only count for freestyle?
Would you guys niot get a sense of accomplishment out of finishing a 200 *** or 200 Fly? Is 1500 free easier tham 200 Fly?
Even one of my close friends that in practice often does 800 fly screatched her 200 fly. I don't get it. Or should I say, I can't relate... where's the hangup? It must be some sort of a mental block?
Maybe we should give special heat winner prizes for those events?
Originally posted by knelson
You know, it is sort of strange. Most of us train nearly year-round, several days per week. Yet we get to a meet and decide a 400 IM is too much pain. Heck, you're done with it in 5 minutes, give or take!
One problem with distance events (200s of stroke, 400 IM, or 500 and above free) is you can't fake your way through them. Anyone who's a good swimmer could step up on the blocks and knock out a nice 50 even if they haven't been in the water for a couple years, but I'd like to see them try a 500 free :) So maybe that's part of the problem. In Masters many of us can't devote a huge amount of time to training and it's just to humiliating to swim the longer events where you come nowhere near the times you swam when you were 12 years old. So this might be one area where you "late bloomers" have an advantage!!
What I found kind of ridiculous that I place second in a SW Zone meet doing the 200 back in 4 minutes 38 seconds. (35-39 age group) Painfully slow!!! (It was my first time doing it).
I'm baffled that in the entire SW Zone all of the 35-39 year olds... there were only two of us dong the event.
I mean, anyone that had swam that event more then once or had trained that stroke t least a little bit, or has some age group experience would have easily placed above my time. Wouldn't even have to swim it race-pace... just stretching it out would do.
Not that I mind a medal in an individual event, but getting second in 200 Back, and third in 100 back and third in 50 back in my age group at Zone championships (all first-time events for me and very slow)... getting 2nds and thirds for that is just plain wrong. Not that I mind the medal... but it was by default.
It was similar with 200 fly and 200 *** (I didn't swim those as I don't know those strokes well enough to not get DQ'd)
Then, on the other hand, we had people clamoring to swim 1500 free and 800 free, and few of them being little bummed that we had to limit that event to 8 heats.
I;'m not sure where I;m going with this... it's just an observation, and it's making me go Hmmm? What's up with that?
Is 200 fly not "enough of a distance?" or does distance only count for freestyle?
Would you guys niot get a sense of accomplishment out of finishing a 200 *** or 200 Fly? Is 1500 free easier tham 200 Fly?
Even one of my close friends that in practice often does 800 fly screatched her 200 fly. I don't get it. Or should I say, I can't relate... where's the hangup? It must be some sort of a mental block?
Maybe we should give special heat winner prizes for those events?
