Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

swim53 — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 11:16:27 GMT

Never in my wildest dreams did I anticipate a meet that was that well-organized. Congrats and thank you to all involved. My husband was the head timer in the women's pool on Saturday. I had signed him up online 3 days before we flew out to CA from OH. He saw, in person, the great efforts of many of the people who made the meet run efficiently, as well. He has been a track coach since 1966 and had trouble with his vocabulary---he got teased for referring to the touch pad/wall as the FINISH LINE. Anyway......It was SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

Former Member — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 12:27:10 GMT

Originally posted by Howard This is all very interesting but on to the more important topic. How much was parking? It was $35 per parking ticket. :)

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

swimmieAvsFan — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 09:00:03 GMT

even though we were a little worried about not being able to get on deck and into warm ups on our non-swimming days, my teammates and i were able to find another local pool to swim at. i just want to give a shout out to the mountain view masters for their hospitality and recommend them to anyone who is either dropping in to the area for vacation or who is looking for a team in the bay area. so thanks chris and marcelo! :)

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

Jeff Commings — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 02:38:07 GMT

Originally posted by Allen Stark The Belardi pool was fast. The Baker pool was fine but not as fast. I'd like to argue that. I broke a world record in the Baker pool. I only swam one race in the Belardi pool (not counting relays), so I can't officially judge, though. Kirk and Skip, it was great meeting you.

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

Former Member — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 14:20:41 GMT

This is all very interesting but on to the more important topic. How much was parking?

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

knelson — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 08:53:06 GMT

I was just looking at the Swimming World website and they've got a streaming video running right now with a nice report from Worlds. Check it out: www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/Default.asp The video's in the upper right corner of the page. You'll also get a chance to hear Mark Gill in case you didn't hear enough of him at the meet! ;)

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

MPohlmann — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 07:49:16 GMT

Originally posted by strong440 Did anybody see why the DQ in Women's 200 Butterfly, Heat 12, lane 2. The results merely say, "Unsportsmanlike manner" . A friend of mine was in the next heat. She said: "I saw the German girl in the heat before get DQ'd for adjusting her goggles and suit twice during the starters commands. We were all taken aback that she got DQ'd for that! " Sounds like "Delay of Meet" to me. Mary

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

onlyfree — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 01:02:21 GMT

A very reasonable $5/day, plenty of space, easy walk to pool and an enticing aroma of eucalypus.

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

Former Member — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 09:13:45 GMT

Give me some Leonard Cohen to rock to any day....;) Ya aint lived if ya didn't see Stephie Ray Vaughan....Wow, do I miss him....

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

A.K. — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 09:03:09 GMT

Originally posted by Allen Stark What a great meet !!The organizersand volunteers should get a standing ovation. I had a great race with Jim Clemmons in the 200 Br. I really thought if I was close at the 100 I'd catch him the second half but every time I accelerated he did too. It was a lot of fun and he pulled me to a time faster than I thought I could do(unfortunately for me he swam faster than I thought he could also.) The Belardi pool was fast. The Baker pool was fine but not as fast. Everyone I met was great and having an international crowd was really neat.The relay day was really exciting and a great idea(check out the 200-239 Mixed MR results) The 200BR looks like it was a good one to watch. You'll have to place bets for the next Worlds in Perth. 1 Clemmons, Jim 56 MAM-USA 2:54.50 2:50.48 39.37 1:22.78 (43.41) 2:07.02 (44.24) 2:50.48 (43.46) 2 Stark, Allen L 57 OREG-USA 2:53.86 2:52.11 39.80 1:24.27 (44.47) 2:08.43 (44.16) 2:52.11 (43.68) Congratulations on your 200-239 Mixed MR - you guys/gals smashed the meet record by 9 seconds and just missed the World Record by 1 second. WORLD: W 2:02.32 1 OREG 'A-USA' 2:03.69M

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

Former Member — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 07:35:55 GMT

Thanks Kirk! I read about your 800 free. Very impressive swim. As for my 200, I swam the first 100 much more cautiously this time. The day before in my 100 Free on I went out in the same as the meet two weeks ago hoping I could come back faster since I was better rested, but didn't have it on the back half. That swim shook my confidence for the 200 and in the long run helped me swim a smarter race. Then after monday's pitiful 50 free, I realized that all of my times could have been much faster had I warmed up properly. I only swam about a 500 prior to each swim. I didn't know! With two chances leading off relays, I needed to make a change and swam the follow as a warm up. An extended version of a typical warm up for a work out. 200 EZ 200 Dril 200 Kick 4 X 50 on 1:00 build the last 15 yards 3 starts with break outs then EZ 200 EZ And then 200 EZ feel good swim prior to each race. Warming up alone helped me drop 1 second in my 50 time. And then at the suggestion of my coach, changing the direction I jump off the blocks (toward the opposite wall instead of up toward the flags) dropped .3 seconds. I think the joke was, "are you going for hang time or speed?" I still have a lot to learn, but the knowlege I gained this time made it a very productive meet. And I got to see some really fast races in the process. Can't beat that! Kevin

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

kristilynn — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 06:12:52 GMT

Originally posted by Allen Stark I had good swims in both pools, but I would love to be able to rationalize my 800 time by telling myself that the Baker pool wasn't as fast. I did think that the Belardi pool was slightly cooler. I felt like I was going to melt about half way through my 800 in Baker pool. For some reason, it also seemed me that Belardi pool was saltier. Overall, it was a great meet, my first international competition. A big pat on the back to all of the people involved in organizing the event. Wow, you guys and gals put in a lot of work!

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

Former Member — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 06:05:04 GMT

Originally posted by Allen Stark The Belardi pool was fast. The Baker pool was fine but not as fast. Yeah I noticed that as well. My individual 50 free in the baker pool was a 27.9 while both of my relay lead off times (flat starts) were over a second faster with 26.6 being the fastest. :confused: Other events. Baker pool 100 free. - .15 slower than my masters best Belardi pool 200 free - 3 seconds faster than my masters best 50 fly - 1 second faster than my masters best. Granted my 50 free time had more going wrong with it than a slow pool. A bad start and poor warm up played a big role, but for me it was clear that the belardi pool was much faster. However, if you look at the records set by pool on the fina site it appears to be fairly even. Anyone else swim way faster in the belardi pool compared to the baker pool? Also, will the relay lead off times eventually show up in my individual results in the USMS data base? I asked after the first swim if I needed to request a split and they told me that relay lead off splits are automatic with the expection of backstroke. Currently all my times from worlds are there except the relay splits. Just curious? Kevin

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

knelson — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 02:54:36 GMT

Originally posted by Mswimming 200 free - 3 seconds faster than my masters best Nice splitting, too, by the way! 1:05, 1:07 much better than last time you swam it. forums.usms.org/showthread.php

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

Former Member — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 11:49:29 GMT

Did anybody see why the DQ in Women's 200 Butterfly, Heat 12, lane 2. The results merely say, "Unsportsmanlike manner" .

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

Allen Stark — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 11:42:47 GMT

What a great meet !!The organizersand volunteers should get a standing ovation. I had a great race with Jim Clemmons in the 200 Br. I really thought if I was close at the 100 I'd catch him the second half but every time I accelerated he did too. It was a lot of fun and he pulled me to a time faster than I thought I could do(unfortunately for me he swam faster than I thought he could also.) The Belardi pool was fast. The Baker pool was fine but not as fast. Everyone I met was great and having an international crowd was really neat.The relay day was really exciting and a great idea(check out the 200-239 Mixed MR results)

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

Former Member — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 14:52:17 GMT

I saw several relays where the order listed in the results was clearly not correct based on the split times. How do they know if the order was altered? Seems like it would be hard to know.

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

dorothyrde — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 12:10:12 GMT

The hard part about DQing for relay out of order is how fair is it. Some teams have very well known people and it is obvious, but other teams may not be as well known and go out of order and never get caught. That is why I dislike this DQ. It takes the judge knowing the names and people well enough to know they went out of order. I guess it is easy if a woman swims in a mans place, or vice versa on mixed relays, so maybe that is the call here.

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

MPohlmann — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 11:02:59 GMT

The heat sheets for the 400 free are posted, but not yet at the Heat Sheet link. You can find the heat sheets if you click on the 400 free under Real Time Results After the event, the heat sheet is removed and changed to Results. Mary

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

Brian Stack — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 09:51:51 GMT

Originally posted by knelson Exactly. I saw a few relays go with only three swimmers. They knew they wouldn't be able to complete the race, but wanted to swim anyway. The relays are ALWAYS a mess at Nationals or Worlds. It's just difficult to get everyone organized no matter how much effort there is ahead of time. Still haven't caught one of your swims Kirk, tho' you did swim in a heat with Carlos Fernandez of the Manatees in a 200 IM heat. I was watching other pool at the time. Since there are no team awards at stake, it seems the reason to swim relays is to have fun, or to put a world record attempt together. One of our relays swam the 200 medley against the new world record holders. Our anchor swam against Rich Abrams, Rowdy Gaines, Dave Boatwright, and Dave Lundgren, and a few others who's names escape at the moment. They finished last in the heat, but hung with the field, and only missed their seed time by close to nine seconds ( who's idea was that 1:42 anyway?). They'll always remember that swim, I'm happy they had the chance. We witnessed so many amazing stories at the relay pool yesterday, I'm hoping Bill's taking good notes. See Ya Brian

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

dorothyrde — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 08:08:49 GMT

I never assumed anyone was trying to cheat. As the computer person who is always trying to get the relay names into the computer properly at meets, I understand how this can happen. I also understand how hard this is with so many teams. I hate this rule because I have seen relay teams get DQ'd because the judge knew the team well enough to identify the swimmers, yet not DQ other relays, because the swimmers were not known. That bothers me. Either all relays need to be checked carefully(and it sounds like the scope of this, that is impossible), or you only DQ the relays that had 3swimmers and were just doing it for fun.

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

Lane Mom — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 07:13:41 GMT

Hi, I was one of the Marshalls in the marshalling area all day on Tuesday. We would continually announce that relays had to swim in the order of the names we had on the heat sheets. We would even try to confirm the order of swimmers with the teams or teams would ask to look at who we had listed so that they could confirm the order they were suppose to go in. We weren't able to do this for each team because the marshalling area can be pretty chaotic with teams or individual team members showing up at the last minute, or not at all. We also had some relays added that were not on our heats sheets so we did not have the swimming order (I don't know if the timers did or not). Overall, though I think it went pretty well. With over 1500 relay teams originally entered I don't know if the DQs were numerically out of line.

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

knelson — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 07:07:19 GMT

Originally posted by Brian Stack In some cases it was swim with who you've got or sit that relay out. Exactly. I saw a few relays go with only three swimmers. They knew they wouldn't be able to complete the race, but wanted to swim anyway. The relays are ALWAYS a mess at Nationals or Worlds. It's just difficult to get everyone organized no matter how much effort there is ahead of time.

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

dorothyrde — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 06:27:33 GMT

I saw quite a few DQ's for the relays changing swimmer's orders. I know that it is in the rules, and we have discussed this here, but was there any extra warnings for them not to do this? That is such a hard thing to catch if you don't know the swimmers, were they specifically asking the names?

RE: Dispatches from the Front (worlds)

Former Member — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 05:39:13 GMT

OMGosh, this event has been crrrrAYzeeee! But seriously, the incredible drama in the pool has inspired us to take our game to the next level. Look for a very special pictorial feature in the next issue of SWIMMER. (I'm psyched!!) :) SB