How many events per day at a meet?

Peter, what about seed times? Must we always enter at our fastest times or can we be creative? Leslie, you are determined to stir up a hornet's nest aren't you! In general there is no rule that you must enter your best time. Some meet packages ask you to enter an official time. Personally I think the premise of seed times is that they should be a good prediction of your time. If you have been sick for months and are out of shape I don't see as necessary to enter your fastest time ever. Some people enter slow times so they can lead in a slower heat. Some people enter fast times so they can swim in the fastest heat. Some people enter times that they hope will increase their recovery time between their swims in two events. I think the golden rule applies.

I swim only as many events as I can swim well. I like freestyle events at 200 and under so my options are limited anyhow. Although I think I might delve into the world of breaststroke at my next meet...we shall see. I can't understand why somebody would give a seed time that is well beyond what they are capable of swimming. Do they think that they will somehow rise to the occassion and take 10 seconds off of their best 100 time?

Yikes, I would never do that either. And who wants to drown in someone else's wake? It's curious though. I have seen a world record holder consistently seed themselves way, way slower than they actually swim. It didn't particularly get me riled up. I just assumed she wanted a wake free swim or didn't want to swim with 25 year olds.... Too bad for the swimmers in the slower heat that got to swim in her wake I guess? Definitely not an application of the golden rule. Personally I am too mediocre to be affected too much, I try to stay focused on what is happening in my lane, but it can be a downer when the person in the next lane, who entered the same or similar seed time as me, disappears into the distance.

Actually, I've found that it varies. I can remember one pool where the pool deck was cool enough that some people (including me) were shivering, and I definitely found that if I restricted myself to 2 events, I'd do better at those events than if I tried to schedule 3 events. But at another summertime meet where the pool deck was warm, I found that doing 3 events instead of 2 didn't seem to hurt my times at all. Another important factor, of course, is how close together the events are.

I understand that North Carolina stands accused of exploding the world's first 'lard bomb' that produces an epidemic of obesity and illiteracy when exploded, part of a plot to render the world into a comfortable place for the Geek and his many 'cousins'. I tried to ignore the statement above but my proud southern roots won't let me. What you said is not very nice! Please refrain from stereotypical statements like that. :shakeshead: North Carolina is not like that at all.

Oh goodness, Beth- not meant to offend you, sorry- just another in the neverending trading of insults between me & geek. By the way, Canada isn't anything like he portrays either.

I try and swim at least four, most times five per day in the smaller meets. I feel it helps to desensitize and is a good way to build that "try to go fast when you don't feel like it" mental portion of competing. When Nat's rolls around and you back down to two whole events over an entire day, well heck, it's like a vacation practically.

I think the point is central to one's development as a competitor who can race well any time, any place. Viewing most races simply as learning opportunities, building toward certain well-targeted and more-rested or fully-rested meets, rather than seeing each as a do-or-die proposition. In that approach, you de-emphasize place and time in favor of evaluating most races on the basis of how well you execute your race plan. Racing tired (or less than fully fit) will probably influence your final time, but shouldn't affect your ability to execute a race plan -- and you ought to learn more about how to do that when you're tired (whether from multiple events or from not adjusting your training sked) than when you're fresher. Our pool was closed for 6 weeks for resurfacing. We've been back in the water 2 weeks, and NW Zones are coming up in a couple weeks. I'm nowhere near competition shape, and my times will no doubt be awful, but I'll be going for the following reasons. (1) It's the same venue as Nationals, although the pool will be set up SCM for this meet. I'm a big believer in familiarity with a pool helping with speed, and I am planning to go to Nationals next year. (2) I need more competition experience. I've learned something from every meet I have been to since my first meet back a year ago. (3) I want to learn how to swim the 200 free. My first one wasn't pretty. Although my time will suck, I'll swim with the goal of splitting it properly. (4) Meets are fun. This one should be well attended.

when i started swimming masters, 7 years ago, i approached every meet as if i needed to swim my fastest time possable for every event entered. this led me swim easy for several days prior to each meet (early season or champs). i am no longer concerned with trying to be fresh and rested for every event i swim in a meet, and indeed for many meets, i won't adjust my training shedule at all; for example; on friday as part of a longer set of 100's, i swam 6 x 100 fly on 1:35 (held 1:19's a first for me), on saturday, i swam a set of 10 x 50 fly on 45 sec. i certainly felt some fatigue in my back and shouders as i approached the blocks for a 200 fly on sunday, but i think the experience of swimming a jam packed day of events (200 fly, 400 im, 500 free, 1650 free) is valuable at this time of the year. (6 weeks back in the pool after 20 +/- weeks open water. i did scratch the 100 fly when i heard that the 1000 and 1650 would be combined, thus eliminating the 15min rest i thought i would have.

I'll chime in that it really depends on your goals for the meet. If I was really trying to get great times, I'd do two or three per day, depending on what events and the timing. For in-season meets, it's sometimes great to do a lot more. A few weeks ago, I swam six events in team meet that lasted about 2 1/2 hours (four individual and two relays). It was my first meet of the season, so I was mainly trying to get a base time for several events, especially for two I had never swum before.