I was honestly on the fence about whether I wanted to swim the breaststroke 3 pack or do freestyle at my next meet in a couple of weeks. So I ended up signing up for 5 events today and mailing it in, knowing that I will scratch at least one, maybe 2, events depending on how I feel at the meet.
Are scratchers evil like sandbaggers? I know I had a lot of fun at the last meet with a couple of very close races with people right next to me, but honestly the only times empty lanes have bothered me have been when I've been in 1 and the only other entrant was in 8 or 6. Feels like a weird time trial when that happens. But just an empty lane or 2, no biggie. Does it bug the race directors? Why do I feel vaguely guilty about it? Should I just kick an extra 200 as penance tomorrow (I hate kicking) and forget all about it? Or is it not even something to worry about?
However, the other people your speed are expecting to race against _you_. That's why they came to the meet in the first place, was to race against _you_. If you sandbag, you are denying them that opportunity.
Hey Rick, I don't necessarily think this is true. There was a thread on this subject -- are you racing yourself or the competition? -- awhile ago. Plenty of people were purely racing against themselves and sometimes paying no attention whatsoever to people in adjacent lanes. Lots of people like to gridge and race. Others are purely internal and focused on their own times and their own race. I rarely hear people say, "I can't wait to race against x person in my heat" or "I came to this meet to race against x." Sometimes the times within a given heat at a non-championship meet are pretty far apart anyway. So "racing" is secondary to getting your own times, measuring your own progress or lack thereof, or just getting experience in an event.
Rick, how do you feel about the getting "splits" phenomenon? Lots of people swimming longer races for a 50 or 100 time and then just cruising the rest of the race.
However, the other people your speed are expecting to race against _you_. That's why they came to the meet in the first place, was to race against _you_. If you sandbag, you are denying them that opportunity.
Hey Rick, I don't necessarily think this is true. There was a thread on this subject -- are you racing yourself or the competition? -- awhile ago. Plenty of people were purely racing against themselves and sometimes paying no attention whatsoever to people in adjacent lanes. Lots of people like to gridge and race. Others are purely internal and focused on their own times and their own race. I rarely hear people say, "I can't wait to race against x person in my heat" or "I came to this meet to race against x." Sometimes the times within a given heat at a non-championship meet are pretty far apart anyway. So "racing" is secondary to getting your own times, measuring your own progress or lack thereof, or just getting experience in an event.
Rick, how do you feel about the getting "splits" phenomenon? Lots of people swimming longer races for a 50 or 100 time and then just cruising the rest of the race.
