Can someone please tell me what sandbagging is? I heard some people discussing it at my last meet, but didn't know exactly what they were talking about. It didn't sound very flattering though by the tone of their voices. Thanks in advance. :banana:
It's not sandbagging if you don't really know how you'll do because it's one of your first meets or first time ever swimming the event. It's quite fine to take a guesstimate.
There is also no obligation to always enter yourself at your best time. You may have not been training well or have been injured or ill. I always take those factors into consideration when filling out an entry form. Last meet, my shoulder needed a bandaid, so I entered a somewhat slow time for the 50 fly and then did better than I thought. Teammate ragged on me for sandbagging. It didn't really help me any because I landed in lane 1.
Also, I'm not sure I completely agree with Tracey. The order of events at a meet can be tricky. My next meet all the sprints are at the end. :dunno: Other meets, I see all the back/free events (like at nationals) are all back to back, which is a major bummer for long axis swimmers. So you may need to make a little adjustment. But generally swimming in a heat with no competition at all isn't that great. And if you are seeded very slowly, you could be drowning someone in your wake -- not fun for that person either.
I struggle over my entry times every time I fill out a meet form. Especially when I did my first SCM or LCM meets. I think you're just supposed to use a fair guesstimate of how you'll swim given all present circumstances.
I think this question has come up before, if anyone wanted to search for it. Some people really despise sandbagging from what I recall.
It's not sandbagging if you don't really know how you'll do because it's one of your first meets or first time ever swimming the event. It's quite fine to take a guesstimate.
There is also no obligation to always enter yourself at your best time. You may have not been training well or have been injured or ill. I always take those factors into consideration when filling out an entry form. Last meet, my shoulder needed a bandaid, so I entered a somewhat slow time for the 50 fly and then did better than I thought. Teammate ragged on me for sandbagging. It didn't really help me any because I landed in lane 1.
Also, I'm not sure I completely agree with Tracey. The order of events at a meet can be tricky. My next meet all the sprints are at the end. :dunno: Other meets, I see all the back/free events (like at nationals) are all back to back, which is a major bummer for long axis swimmers. So you may need to make a little adjustment. But generally swimming in a heat with no competition at all isn't that great. And if you are seeded very slowly, you could be drowning someone in your wake -- not fun for that person either.
I struggle over my entry times every time I fill out a meet form. Especially when I did my first SCM or LCM meets. I think you're just supposed to use a fair guesstimate of how you'll swim given all present circumstances.
I think this question has come up before, if anyone wanted to search for it. Some people really despise sandbagging from what I recall.
