I propose a rule change for the championship committee. If someone misses their heat at USMS Nationals due to general stupidity and day dreaming, they should be allowed to swim in an open lane in that same event.
John Smith
(2006 psuedo champion, 50yd back)
Parents
Former Member
Meaning no disrespect to anyone, but I think this is a profoundly silly discussion.
If I can add my personal beliefs to this:
- We're talking about Masters meets, not the Olympic Trials, so I think we ought to give the officials on deck a whole lot of lattitude about how they keep things going for their meet. Therefore,
- If an official notices that John is skylarking away and hasn't realized his heat has been called to the blocks, it's perfectly OK for the official to pause, and say "hey John, are you forgetting something?" I don't particularly care what the "rules" "policy" or any other guidance from USMS says, or whether that will be perfectly fair to any other swimmer the official does not know by sight.
- If on the other hand, the official feels the need to press on and John misses his heat, that is OK too. No, this is NOT the same as the two U.S. sprinters who missed their preliminary heat in the 72 Olympics because their coach gave them bad info. This is Masters. We're doing this for fun and missing one or another race is not the end of the world.
- Finally, I really don't get the "fairness" argument by people who worry about Rowdy Gains or Amanda Beard (or the Senator for that matter) getting special breaks if they daydream through their heat being marshalled. For cryin' out loud, all of us at USMS would be thrilled they showed up for our fun little meet. Of course, we all want to see them swim, and of course we should tap them on the shoulder if they get a little distracted.
Please, this is Masters, not the Halls of Justice! Don't turn the rulebook into the Internal Revenue Code, have fun, and move on.
Matt
Meaning no disrespect to anyone, but I think this is a profoundly silly discussion.
If I can add my personal beliefs to this:
- We're talking about Masters meets, not the Olympic Trials, so I think we ought to give the officials on deck a whole lot of lattitude about how they keep things going for their meet. Therefore,
- If an official notices that John is skylarking away and hasn't realized his heat has been called to the blocks, it's perfectly OK for the official to pause, and say "hey John, are you forgetting something?" I don't particularly care what the "rules" "policy" or any other guidance from USMS says, or whether that will be perfectly fair to any other swimmer the official does not know by sight.
- If on the other hand, the official feels the need to press on and John misses his heat, that is OK too. No, this is NOT the same as the two U.S. sprinters who missed their preliminary heat in the 72 Olympics because their coach gave them bad info. This is Masters. We're doing this for fun and missing one or another race is not the end of the world.
- Finally, I really don't get the "fairness" argument by people who worry about Rowdy Gains or Amanda Beard (or the Senator for that matter) getting special breaks if they daydream through their heat being marshalled. For cryin' out loud, all of us at USMS would be thrilled they showed up for our fun little meet. Of course, we all want to see them swim, and of course we should tap them on the shoulder if they get a little distracted.
Please, this is Masters, not the Halls of Justice! Don't turn the rulebook into the Internal Revenue Code, have fun, and move on.
Matt
