Just admit it. Almost everyone sandbags from time to time. Look at Ande, entering at 28.9 in the 50 back to have clear water. Bunch of his times look pretty suspect. Peg completely sandbagged the 1000 free at Zones. I entered a coach-approved NT on the 100 IM at Zones and then scratched. Paul Smith is passing on a 100 free duel with evil Smith to save up for his world-record-shattering performance to be in the 200 medley relay. Julie Oplinger sandbagged her 100 fly at Zones. The list could go on forever, so you might as well join the Club.
As for Nats, because of my lack of expertise with sandbagging, I'm over my 25% statistical probability per race of landing in an outside lane.
(Sorry Osterber! :thhbbb:)
It is pretty comparable with the idea of entering the time you expect to swim.
Why would one want to enter a time slower than s/he expects to swim? I can think of the following two reasons but I'm sure there are others:
-- trying to create more recovery time if the next event is soon after;
-- being afraid to "put it out there" and announce what you think you can do. It is a guard against being too disappointed in your race. ("Well, at least I beat my seed time!")
Consider: equalling or bettering last years' swim times is a huge achievement. With the reality of aging, in the long term everyone will fail to do this more often than they succeed. So you should be happy if you are even close, and VERY happy if you succeed.
And if you are way off, so what? You're still in there giving it your shot, the worst thing that can happen is that you are engaging in a healthy (and hopefully enjoyable) activity.
I know Ande's 50 back was a typo. Just busting his chops.
I usually sandbag to create more recovery time. I'd actually prefer that big meets run more slowly, then recovery is built in. I should be in the NE LMSC!
I generally don't enter at my masters PBs, especially at a non-championship meet where I'm not tapered. I agree with the advice on aging. I finished one race this summer, and thought, "I'll never go that fast again." Not being negative, I was just surprised by the time.
I could care less generally whether I surpass my seed time or not. It's usually just a guesttimate. I generally compare my actual time to what I was doing at the same meet the prior year. Plus, probably just an odd coincidence, I always find myself filling out entry forms when my shoulder is acting up. Which leads me to my next club ...
It is pretty comparable with the idea of entering the time you expect to swim.
Why would one want to enter a time slower than s/he expects to swim? I can think of the following two reasons but I'm sure there are others:
-- trying to create more recovery time if the next event is soon after;
-- being afraid to "put it out there" and announce what you think you can do. It is a guard against being too disappointed in your race. ("Well, at least I beat my seed time!")
Consider: equalling or bettering last years' swim times is a huge achievement. With the reality of aging, in the long term everyone will fail to do this more often than they succeed. So you should be happy if you are even close, and VERY happy if you succeed.
And if you are way off, so what? You're still in there giving it your shot, the worst thing that can happen is that you are engaging in a healthy (and hopefully enjoyable) activity.
I know Ande's 50 back was a typo. Just busting his chops.
I usually sandbag to create more recovery time. I'd actually prefer that big meets run more slowly, then recovery is built in. I should be in the NE LMSC!
I generally don't enter at my masters PBs, especially at a non-championship meet where I'm not tapered. I agree with the advice on aging. I finished one race this summer, and thought, "I'll never go that fast again." Not being negative, I was just surprised by the time.
I could care less generally whether I surpass my seed time or not. It's usually just a guesttimate. I generally compare my actual time to what I was doing at the same meet the prior year. Plus, probably just an odd coincidence, I always find myself filling out entry forms when my shoulder is acting up. Which leads me to my next club ...
