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?
Then why come to the meet in the first place? Just get up on the blocks at your next practice, and get a time. If the other people in the heat make absolutely no difference, then why pay that money in the first place? Seems like a waste.
Also, I'm not necessarily saying that people are looking to race a specific person. But they are looking to race the people who are their speed. If you're their speed, then they want to race you. Not specifically, but generally.
How disappointed would you be if you decided you did want to race people, and it then turned out that every single person who is within 5 seconds of you speed, decided to sandbag? You wanted a race, but nobody else was there for you.
-Rick
Well, I myself like racing and had two of the closest races of my life at my last meet. It was pure fun. However, I can see a situation where someone wanted race condition times, but was mostly racing for themselves.
As for going to meets to get times without competition or someone to race, well, that's happened to me. At the IGLA Champs this year, swimmers were seeded by age group not time. In the 3 events I swam, no one was close and I had to swim by myself. (KPN swam different events.) Still had a blast. Pretty happy that I bothered to "get times" too as I had huge PBs.
As for an 800 person meet like NEMS, I guess there might be someone who'd want to race me specifically. I can think of several I'd like to race in your neck of the woods! But generally I'm at much smaller meets.
As for boo hoo on the order of events, well, that's fine for some. If you're swimming the 50-100-200-500 free, you're fine. But I'm routinely screwed by the order of events and sometimes have to make an adjustment, which may include not swimming event(s) I'd like to swim. Couldn't swim two of my best events at my last Zones meet, and was NOT happy about it. I attended because it was a local meet. Meet directors should really make the effort to change the order of events every year so the pain is spread around. If they don't, I personally will make an adjustment or go to a different meet. If that makes me childish, I'm strangely OK with that. :)
Then why come to the meet in the first place? Just get up on the blocks at your next practice, and get a time. If the other people in the heat make absolutely no difference, then why pay that money in the first place? Seems like a waste.
Also, I'm not necessarily saying that people are looking to race a specific person. But they are looking to race the people who are their speed. If you're their speed, then they want to race you. Not specifically, but generally.
How disappointed would you be if you decided you did want to race people, and it then turned out that every single person who is within 5 seconds of you speed, decided to sandbag? You wanted a race, but nobody else was there for you.
-Rick
Well, I myself like racing and had two of the closest races of my life at my last meet. It was pure fun. However, I can see a situation where someone wanted race condition times, but was mostly racing for themselves.
As for going to meets to get times without competition or someone to race, well, that's happened to me. At the IGLA Champs this year, swimmers were seeded by age group not time. In the 3 events I swam, no one was close and I had to swim by myself. (KPN swam different events.) Still had a blast. Pretty happy that I bothered to "get times" too as I had huge PBs.
As for an 800 person meet like NEMS, I guess there might be someone who'd want to race me specifically. I can think of several I'd like to race in your neck of the woods! But generally I'm at much smaller meets.
As for boo hoo on the order of events, well, that's fine for some. If you're swimming the 50-100-200-500 free, you're fine. But I'm routinely screwed by the order of events and sometimes have to make an adjustment, which may include not swimming event(s) I'd like to swim. Couldn't swim two of my best events at my last Zones meet, and was NOT happy about it. I attended because it was a local meet. Meet directors should really make the effort to change the order of events every year so the pain is spread around. If they don't, I personally will make an adjustment or go to a different meet. If that makes me childish, I'm strangely OK with that. :)
