Don't want to start a screamfest, but the controversial issue of "getting enough rest" between events led me to wonder --- how do you get an order of events that is somewhat uniformly fair?
Since I'm apparently challenging John Smith for most annoying masters swimmer, I'll just say that I have been aggravated by the order of events in most of my recent meets. As a fly-backer-er, somewhat odd, it seems that those events are always close together. I guess the fly-*** or fly-free or all free combos are much more common. I have basically given up swimming the 100 IM and haven't swum the 100 back in SCY in 2 years. My last meet, the 100 fly and 100 back were within minutes of each other, and unlike Chris Stevenson and Jeff Roddin, I admittedly didn't have the chops to do both. At my Dec. taper meet, all my best events were on Saturday. At anther meet, all the 200s were in the first half of the meet and all the sprints in the second half, annoying almost everyone and causing a lot of scratches. I have also noticed the inequity between rest for freestylers and strokers. Folks entering the 5 pack freestyle (50, 100, 200, 500, 1000 or 1650), very common set of entries, always have adequate rest because these events are always spaced out pretty well. So it's pretty easy for freestylers to think others are whiney, since they never experience the rest problem.
So how do you fix these inequities and get a fair lineup of events? At a minimum, can't meet directors change the order of events each year to attempt to provide some equity? Or have a 15 minute break scheduled somewhere? This would probably reduce whining and the apparently repugnant practice of sandbagging to get more rest. Since I only swim 5 meets a year or so, it'd be nice to attempt to swim reasonably well. Swimming more meets is just not an option. There's obviously no way to make everyone happy all the time, but it seems like the system could be improved.
Some of the guiding principles that I remember (correctly or incorrectly) are:
Don't put two events of the same stroke back to back (excluding the distance day in a 4-day format).
Don't put two events of the same distance back to back.
In a 4 day meet format with one day being the distance day, make sure there is at least one event of each stroke on each non-distance day (excluding IM's for LC meets where there are only 2 IM's).
The principles that I try to follow also include:
The 1000 free and 1650 free switch order each year
The women's and men's 500 free, and the 400 IM switch days each year
The 100 IM, 200 IM, and 400 IM are each on different days (one IM event each day)
The 50 free, 100 free, and 200 free are each on different days
For the stroke events (back, ***, fly), the 50, 100 and 200 of each stroke are on different days. Also, each day has a 50 of one stroke, a 100 of another stroke, and a 200 of the third stroke.
The 50 free, 200 free relay, and 200 medley relay are on different days (so there are three different days to swim a 50 free)
The 100 free, 400 free relay, and 400 medley relay are on different days (so there are three different days to swim a 100 free)
The 200 free and 800 free relay are on different days (so there are two different days to swim a 200 free)
(Edit to note: This is for a 4-day meet, with one day being 1000/1650 free only.)
-Rick
Some of the guiding principles that I remember (correctly or incorrectly) are:
Don't put two events of the same stroke back to back (excluding the distance day in a 4-day format).
Don't put two events of the same distance back to back.
In a 4 day meet format with one day being the distance day, make sure there is at least one event of each stroke on each non-distance day (excluding IM's for LC meets where there are only 2 IM's).
The principles that I try to follow also include:
The 1000 free and 1650 free switch order each year
The women's and men's 500 free, and the 400 IM switch days each year
The 100 IM, 200 IM, and 400 IM are each on different days (one IM event each day)
The 50 free, 100 free, and 200 free are each on different days
For the stroke events (back, ***, fly), the 50, 100 and 200 of each stroke are on different days. Also, each day has a 50 of one stroke, a 100 of another stroke, and a 200 of the third stroke.
The 50 free, 200 free relay, and 200 medley relay are on different days (so there are three different days to swim a 50 free)
The 100 free, 400 free relay, and 400 medley relay are on different days (so there are three different days to swim a 100 free)
The 200 free and 800 free relay are on different days (so there are two different days to swim a 200 free)
(Edit to note: This is for a 4-day meet, with one day being 1000/1650 free only.)
-Rick
