will opening a meet with a 200 kill my other events?

First off, it won't "kill" your other events. The other events may be slightly impacted but that may or may not be a bad result. If this is the only meet you are going to swim, then you should probably drop one especially since I sense you are already "worried" about it and that mental part may play a more important, possibly negative role than the physical part when all said and done. You probably need to swim more meets during the year so that you will have an opportunity to swim tired, swim different series of events, get a more positive attitude (my sense of your mental state). You'll then have the chance to swim all the different events you prefer in different orders, swimming some fresh and swimming some tired. This is when you will learn how your body reacts in different situations and it won't worry you so much. The meet importance will also come into play. If it's just a small local meet then, so what? Swim them all. If it's Nat's and you've invested some money for travel, time away from work, family, etc., then by all means make sure you have a significant amount of break time in between events to maximise your results. I apolgize in advance if this appears as a diatribe. It's not meant to be one.

You'll do fine Matt. Santa Cruz is conducive to fast times. The mixed medley is after your 50 which is probably an hour and a half after that free relay (mixed as well btw). It's that free relay that's going to come relatively quickly after your 200.

Today I did a mental fast 66yd (100ft pool). Totally anaerobic. I forgot just how tough that is and it took me a long time to recover. Maybe 30 minutes, and I still would have had trouble if I had to swim a 100. Granted a 50 is shorter and there is a dive, but it got me a bit worried. I think dumping the 50 and doing the 200 may be smarter. I will not swim the 200 anaerobically, and I will have a longer recovery before the 100. This is a local meet. It only has importance to me, because I want to get under 60 sec for the 100. To me that is a goal that I feel slipping away going into a long stretch without a SCY meet. I am looking for every tenth. I will also try the 500 at the end of the meet, so I do have something else to do.

It seems like the distance swimmers have been saying skip the 50 and the sprinters have been saying skip the 200. I think it really depends on how hard you swim the earlier events, how good of shape you're in, and what kind of swimmer you are. This weekend, I had a meet where I swam the 25 fly, 200 IM, and 200 free all within not much more than an hour. My first two events were great, but I swam horribly in the third one. If I was really going for a PB in the 100, I would not do all three events. If you can use the 50 to warm up for the 100, go for it. If not, skip it. Then you can decide on the 200 from there.

As others have said, it really depends on what kind of shape you are in. And, I think it depends on how much all out swimming you have been doing in your workouts. If you have just been doing normal interval training without going for it in some sprints, well then you may want to consider scratching either the 50 or the 200. If you have been doing a lot of sprints, and think you have the endurance, then I say go for all of them. Another thing to consider I suppose, is how important is this race in the long term. Are you just wanting a PB, can you set a records, is it your last race forever, etc. If it is really important, then I guess again you get back to scratching one of the others.

IMHO, quality takes precedence over quantity in this situation. I would rather have two really good swims than three ho-hum swims.

Funny thing about this, I will be in the same situation with a meet this July. The day opens with a 200 Free, and then there are two relays (a 400 free relay and a 200 mixed Medley) and a 50 Free I want to compete in the same day. Fortunately for me I still have two months to prepare but I suspect I will be having the same questions rtodd does, particularly since it will be my first LC meet. Eeek!

Okay, I'm with you. Dump the 50 and that'll give you almost an hour between the 200 and the 100. Like everyone else wrote, make sure you swim down for at least 4-500 yds (easy) after the 200. Get back in the water for a couple/few hundred (easy again) before the 100. For me, I'd go from the warmup lane directly to the blocks, wet. Make sure you're moving and not just hanging on the wall. Timing is important plus you hafta watch the heat before yours so you don't miss your heat.

I hit the wrong button. Wanted to say have a good, aggressive and fast swim. Think :58.5! Oh, and remember to come back and let us know how well you did.

I might be tempted to skip the 50. It takes me about an hr to recover between swims to swim maximally. 50s are funny for me. they generate more lactic acid than other races and sometimes it takes me longer to recover from a 50 than a 200. Then again sometimes I feel like I could jump out of the water and swim another 50 right away.I have been told that as a general rule you should cool down longer for a 50 than a 200 because of the greater lactic acid.