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?
I recall Phelps fell asleep during prelims at one of his tuneup meets last year and missed an event. The rule was that if you no-show a prelim swim you are scratched from your next event. However, Phelps was back on the blocks for his next swim. Apparently the rules don't apply when you're Michael Phelps :)
To be 100% precise... the USA Swimming rule I referenced is specifically a "National Championships" rule, and is in effect for all national championship meets.
Many "championship-style" meets across the country use those rules as well, and simply reference them in meet information. (I.e., "We will use National Championship scratch procedures as in 106.4.7 subsection J, etc.", or whatever the specific rule number is.)
So it's possible that the meet wasn't using those rules in the first place. It's also possible that some people get special privs. They could have decided to retroactively put in an administrative DQ for his missed swim.
(The national championship rule for prelim no-shows is that you are out for remaining prelim events that day, and you are scratched from all remaining events in the meet, unless you check-in with the Admin Referee before the next scratch deadline, and declare your intention to swim in further events.)
-Rick
I recall Phelps fell asleep during prelims at one of his tuneup meets last year and missed an event. The rule was that if you no-show a prelim swim you are scratched from your next event. However, Phelps was back on the blocks for his next swim. Apparently the rules don't apply when you're Michael Phelps :)
To be 100% precise... the USA Swimming rule I referenced is specifically a "National Championships" rule, and is in effect for all national championship meets.
Many "championship-style" meets across the country use those rules as well, and simply reference them in meet information. (I.e., "We will use National Championship scratch procedures as in 106.4.7 subsection J, etc.", or whatever the specific rule number is.)
So it's possible that the meet wasn't using those rules in the first place. It's also possible that some people get special privs. They could have decided to retroactively put in an administrative DQ for his missed swim.
(The national championship rule for prelim no-shows is that you are out for remaining prelim events that day, and you are scratched from all remaining events in the meet, unless you check-in with the Admin Referee before the next scratch deadline, and declare your intention to swim in further events.)
-Rick
