The thread on how long a meet lasts/seed times got me thinking. Do forumites like a fiercely competitive race or heat or do we swim our own races largely ignoring those in other lanes (especially since seed times may not be accurate)?
For myself, I enjoy a good race or a grudge match, particularly against someone I know. :lolup: But I can also swim my own race, ignore others and focus on my own times. At SCY zones last May, I was so intent on my 50 free, I didn't even notice that the adjacent lane was empty until I watched the race on video with Mr. Fort. I was perfectly oblivious. At my last meet, in my 50 fly grudge race against Muppet, some guy in my heat beat me by .2, but I couldn't have cared less. I was happy with my time.
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Former Member
Up until the GB Masters this year, I had always raced against the clock. However, in the 1500m, I swam a 10s personal best and was really happy - I had paced my race really well and let the field go at their crazy early pace, then hauled them all back and whupped the lot of them in the final 500m. I also knew that this was good enough to secure third place in my age group - the only faster swimmers were in later heats. Sure enough, they both beat me but second place was only 0.56s faster!
I then found myself racing the second place guy (Bob) in the 800m - this time we were in adjacent lanes and had a really great competition as our race strategies played out. Unfortunately, it turned out that Bob is just plain faster than me (or was it his full body suit v my jammers?) and he took 1.5s out of me in the last 100m. However, this was the best fun I've had since returning to masters swimming. Had a good chat with Bob after the race and am looking forward to our next head-to-head at the ASA masters in October.
Up until the GB Masters this year, I had always raced against the clock. However, in the 1500m, I swam a 10s personal best and was really happy - I had paced my race really well and let the field go at their crazy early pace, then hauled them all back and whupped the lot of them in the final 500m. I also knew that this was good enough to secure third place in my age group - the only faster swimmers were in later heats. Sure enough, they both beat me but second place was only 0.56s faster!
I then found myself racing the second place guy (Bob) in the 800m - this time we were in adjacent lanes and had a really great competition as our race strategies played out. Unfortunately, it turned out that Bob is just plain faster than me (or was it his full body suit v my jammers?) and he took 1.5s out of me in the last 100m. However, this was the best fun I've had since returning to masters swimming. Had a good chat with Bob after the race and am looking forward to our next head-to-head at the ASA masters in October.
