Okay, I think I've finally figured this out.
If I suck at sprinting on land, the same will hold true in water, so I'll be bad at the 50, 100, 200 and 400. (Though the 400 is borderline sprinting).
If I'm a distance runner, I should be okay with the 800 and up.
But...I shouldn't stop doing sprint workouts because they help so much (like during my sophomore track season, my event was the 2 mile, but I could nail the 200 yard sprint faster than any of the distance runners).
I think I got that right...of course, swimming takes more out of you...that whole, holding your breath thing.