How long is a meet?

Speaking of casts, I totally forgot that I massively messed up the timeline at 2005 LCM Nationals. I broke my wrist two weeks before nationals. I was dead set on going, since it was my vacation, and I did get my swim on in the 50 and 100 free. With a full-arm cast, those two events were all my poor shoulder could handle. I ended up going 34.40 in the 50 and a 1:12 in the 100. I was way behind the rest of the group, 5 & 10 seconds respectively behind the next slowest finisher, and had to get out at the side ladders too. Of course, they sent out that email saying "send us corrections, but not to your seed times." So I didn't let them know.

This is always a problem. Stuff happens. In our meet, with 5000 entries, it's a real pain dealing with people wanting to update seed times. With nationals, it must be even worse. One other problem we have is that we get bunches of people making strategic adjustments to seed times. Or wanting to. I don't have patience for that. People who want to drop 2 tenths so they drop down a heat. Or suddenly drop 0.1 seconds so they end up in the top-8. Bleah. We don't publish a psych sheet until after the entry deadline has passed. We found that too many people were holding out their entries to see what other people entered with. So we stopped posting until the entry deadline had passed. If I get seed time adjustment requests, I evaluate them one by one. If you wrote that you needed to slow down by 5-10 seconds because you just broke your wrist, I'd take that. That benefits everyone. If you had a brain-fart, and entered the 200 free at 2:05, but you're really a 3:05 swimmer, I'd take that. Especially if the rest of your seed times seem to match. But if you entered the 200 free at 2:15, and email me to tell me that you just did a time trial in practice, and you were now a 2:14.35 person, sorry. Of course, if I typoed your entry time, then I'll fix it. When you hand-type 5000 entry times, it's possible to make a typo or two. :-) (Fortunately, this year there were only around 2500 entry times to type in due to online entries... even less next year!) -Rick

Next year, we're going to look at tying the online entries to other databases, so that when you enter online, we automatically suggest your entry times for you. Perhaps even requiring a written comment if you put an entry time that is too far off of our suggestion. (Which is definitely going to happen... injuries, pregnancies, other major life events, etc.) We just want people to (a) think about their entries, and (b) understand that it matters and (c) that we're watching. That is a pretty cool idea. You guys would have nabbed me in 2004. I entered the first SCM Zone meet at Wheaton, and swam with a cast due to a broken wrist. I can't remember if I entered slower times b/c of the cast or not, but either way, I'd've probably added some wait time on either end. :frustrated: Oddly enough, I actually swam really well that meet. Ended up breaking the :60 barrier for the second time ever in the 100 free; 200 back was a top 10 time - first (and only) time ever swum. Poor Chris Woolridge, who was 2 yrs younger, was beating himself since I kept coming in ahead of him.

This is only tangentially related, but since you are in this thread, Rick: your meet is my favorite meet of all that we attend. It is always so well run and I always swim fast (though I will attempt to be more accurate with my times). Will online entries work for non-NEM swimmers next year?

Righteous! I love it! Way to go Rules Committee! :bouncing: Well, sorry to piss you all off, but I'm going to enter one event at Blackbeard's next meet with a NT or slow time. I am not doing it to sandbag. I have no interest in beating anyone by 30 seconds. (I don't really understand that mentality.) It won't slow down the meet. I don't care about high points or heat awards or awards even. I'm doing it to get a few seconds more rest before swimming a back to back event. Feel free to shoot me. I have the same problem on Sunday, but I'm opted to drop an event I'd like to swim. I'm sure I would do better with actual competition, but it's all a tradeoff. My other events will have appropriate seed times. I also agree with Michelle that you can honestly mis-predict times. If you don't swim many meets, you may not be able to predict how training or injuries or illness can effect your times.

Will online entries work for non-NEM swimmers next year? I wish. The problem is that the USMS registration system appears to be almost hopelessly decentralized. I have repeatedly begged USMS to implement some sort of a system where a meet host like me can query a central USMS database to validate USMS registration credentials. But such a system does not exist. So, I only have access to NE-LMSC (with is NEM, GBM, Maine Masters, and Vermont Masters) registration data. I may try to contact the Metro Masters registrar to see about getting a registration file from them, since we have a lot of entries from the Metro LMSC. Without that kind of registration data, the only way for me to know that you're USMS-registered is to look at your USMS card. -Rick

It won't slow down the meet. Um, yes it will. If you swim faster than your heat because you're seeded too slow, you _do_ slow down the meet. -Rick

Um, yes it will. If you swim faster than your heat because you're seeded too slow, you _do_ slow down the meet. -Rick How? It may not matter. There might not be more than one heat if men and women swim separately as they do at most zone meets.

Well, sorry to piss you all off, but I'm going to enter one event at Blackbeard's next meet with a NT or slow time. No worries, Fort - As I mentioned earlier, I've done that myself a time or two. I don't have a problem with that. I won't hold your feet to the coals - except perhaps for some 50 fly redemption. :duel: I think Rick has some good ideas here, and I think this tangent got started b/c I mentioned that I can think of a specific example of someone who does get their jollies out of beating people by 30 seconds (I see they're doing it at Nationals again).

Um, yes it will. If you swim faster than your heat because you're seeded too slow, you _do_ slow down the meet. -Rick Let's take a 100 Free with 10 heats as an example. I think he means that if you are seeded in a slower heat (you are in the slowest heat #1), you are displacing the slowest person into the next slowest heat (they'd be in heat #2), while they should have been the fastest person in heat #1. This causes a chain reaction all the way through the event, up to the heat you should have been in. When I do meets, I ask my coach for help with my seed times. I may pad them very slightly, depending on that discussion. I'd prefer to be in a heat with swimmers close in speed to make a good race. Obviously, if the event only has 1 heat, you woudn't slow down anything.