Women's Locker Room

Uh, I was referring to Katie not being a sandbagger if she enters an NT when she has never swum the event. Then I said the NT heats were very slow except for the sandbaggers. So I'm not sure what you are trying to say in response to my post ... As Ahelee mentioned, and I just saw at my last meet, men are the worst sandbaggers ever. Meant nothing other than a passing comment. And I agree with the last statement.

Most meet directors discourage the use of NTs, especially at big meets where they want the heats to run quickly. Some meets, like our New England Championship meets, forbid it. "NT" entries are rejected. We also have wording in our meet information that allows the meet management to adjust any seed time that is obviously incorrect. So if we see a sandbagged entry, we reserve the right to correct it. At our upcoming NE SCY meet, we have added (starting last year) a seed time promotion. The first 10 swimmers in the meet who swim their _exact_ seed time will win a $10 Starbucks card. Last year, we had 8 winners. We also publish reports of the best and worst seeders, and also a full list of all swimmers in the meet and how well or poorly they seeded themselves. This way, in future years, we can keep an eye out for the bad repeats. We had one swimmer, for example, who across a total of 9 individual events, swam times that were, on average, 0.28 seconds per 100 yards, different from her seed times. Time-wise, we had around 40 swimmers who were within 1% of their seed times, on average. We also had people who were 35% off their seed times on average. -Rick

Talk to the meet director.The USMS guideline(not rule) is that the fastest seed in any gender-age group should not be seeded in the outside lanes(although I have never been aware of this actually being done,and as I age I find myself in the outside lanes more often.) Do you have a cite for this, Allen? Does this apply to all meets or just Nationals?

Do you have a cite for this, Allen? Does this apply to all meets or just Nationals? 102.10.1 Seeding Principles for Masters Competition A All short course meters events, long course meters events and national championships shall be conducted on a timed-final basis. Other short course yards events may be conducted on a timed-final basis or other basis (e.g., trials/finals). In a trials/finals format, competitors shall be limited to three individual events per day. B Age groups, genders and events of the same distance 200 yards or longer may be combined so that no swimmer has to swim alone and lanes may be filled. C It is recommended that when swimmers are seeded by time and not by age groups, the fastest two swimmers in each age group should not be seeded into outside lanes. It is recommended that they be moved inward one lane or given the center lanes in the next slowest heat, whichever is the more appropriate placement. D Seeding at meets other than national championship meets may be either fast-to-slow or slow-to-fast. Seeding may differ for sprint and distance events (events 400 yards or longer) within a meet. Women’s and men’s heats may be alternated in the distance events. The meet information shall state the seeding for all events. E Heat and lane assignments for events of 200 meters or less shall be available to all competitors at least five minutes prior to the start of the event. 102.9

102.10.1 Seeding Principles for Masters Competition A All short course meters events, long course meters events and national championships shall be conducted on a timed-final basis. Other short course yards events may be conducted on a timed-final basis or other basis (e.g., trials/finals). In a trials/finals format, competitors shall be limited to three individual events per day. B Age groups, genders and events of the same distance 200 yards or longer may be combined so that no swimmer has to swim alone and lanes may be filled. C It is recommended that when swimmers are seeded by time and not by age groups, the fastest two swimmers in each age group should not be seeded into outside lanes. It is recommended that they be moved inward one lane or given the center lanes in the next slowest heat, whichever is the more appropriate placement. D Seeding at meets other than national championship meets may be either fast-to-slow or slow-to-fast. Seeding may differ for sprint and distance events (events 400 yards or longer) within a meet. Women’s and men’s heats may be alternated in the distance events. The meet information shall state the seeding for all events. E Heat and lane assignments for events of 200 meters or less shall be available to all competitors at least five minutes prior to the start of the event. 102.9 Thanks, Bill!

There was some serious sandbagging going on in the 200 free at the Warrenton meet. I didn't swim it, but I was watching and some of the times were like 15 seconds off the seed times... Do the pool circulation pumps get shut off when a meet is going on? I did my first meet two weekends ago and couldn't believe how fast the pool felt - and my stroke count was the same going both directions. I'd gotten my seed times by timing myself in one of my usual pools and beat those times by 6 seconds in the 50 'fly and 20 seconds in the 200 free. (They don't let you enter with "no time" here. You have to at least give an estimate.) I figure it had to be either something to do with the pool design - gutters about 2 feet below floor level? - or the pumps being shut off. Oh, and as long as I'm in the women's locker room - any ideas on strengthening fingernails? Mine seem to be made of paper lately. They're as short as they can go and I'm still tearing and breaking them.

My sister used to buy knox gelatin packets and drink them. Gross! I know that GNC and the Vitamin Shoppe sell vitamins specifically to strengthen hair and nails. Not sure if they work. Most drugstores sell a nail polish to strengthen nails-you can just try the clear one. I am not sure how well that works too. My profession, being very hands on, requires my nails to be short. Fortunately the chlorine makes them chip. Let me know if you find something that works for you!

Katie, The last Speedo suit that fit me was an S2000 back in 1996. I have found that while I can wear a 28 (almost a 26) in any other brand suit, I can barely get on any Speedo 30! And I definitely didn't like what was sticking out! I just don't even wear Speedo anymore. For practice I wear Nike suits mostly and the occasional TYR. Those are very comfy suits. I also just bought a Yingfa from George Park (www.swimdownhill.com) and I love it. It's a full body, LZR-like suit (looks exactly like one), same material, and it was $53 with tax and shipping (no typo!). I tried it out last night in practice. Where I have been holding 1:10/100 pace frees, I was comfortably holding 1:06s! It's fast. I'm going to wear it to the meet this weekend and compare to the B70. (My Yingfa is a size L, although I suspect I could have fit in a medium). You might want to ask George about it. He's on these forums : ]

Folic acid is supposed to strengthen them isn't it? I know when I was pregnant I took prenatal pills (lots of folic acid) and I had really nice, strong nails.

New topic for the Women's Locker Room... I brought home my latest swimsuit bargain, a $16.99 Nike from TJ Maxx. Hubby picked it up, examined it, and said, "What's with the crotch plastic?" He was totally mystified, and amused, by the plastic "shield" that was stuck to the inside of the crotch area. I tried to explain that this is supposedly a hygienic thing, for when people don't leave their underwear on when trying on a suit. But as I spoke I realized how dumb this really is. It's not like the germs would stay on the plastic and not "jump" to the swimsuit fabric. I can't remember how long ago they started putting these little panels into women's swimsuits. In the "old days" I remember seeing signs in dressing rooms that directed people to leave their underwear on when trying on swimsuits. I haven't seen those signs for a number of years. :rofl: No plastic thingies for tech suits. And imagine the things that could attach to the full body try ons ... Karen, how was the B70/Yinga comparison? BTW, I got a FB wall post today saying the new Jaked comes in fuschia! lol