No offense to Jeff, but he could get all the competition he wants by swimming USS meets. For the rest of us, at nationals at least, there is enough competition within each age group that it makes sense to swim against only the people you're competing with for medals/ribbons. At regional meets, where there may only be 3-5 people in a given age group, seeding by time makes more sense.
Swimming at USS meets is fun, and definitely provides competition.
But it really isn't the same. First of all, you are competing against kids less than half your age (I am as old as the fathers of most of the kids I swim against). Secondly, they do much more training.
So, while a race is a race, I would probably feel a little more urgency in competing against a Mike Ross, Jeff Commings or Paul Smith -- even if they are not in my age group -- compared to someone barely old enough to drive a car.
Look, I understand the arguments and I don't really expect nationals to change. It would probably lose some of the drama if someone sets a WR for his/her age group but gets fourth in the heat. It would make Mark Gill's job a little harder too. (Maybe that's a plus?)
But it does seem a bit of a discrepancy how almost everyone says in the other poll that PBs are the most important thing to them, that placing is secondary...but then a sizeable number of those people don't want to swim in a format that would provide the most competition and possibly push them to swim faster.
Maybe placing is more important than people like to admit to themselves?
(Personally, I'd love the chance to give Mr. Commings something to think about on the plane trip back home.)
No offense to Jeff, but he could get all the competition he wants by swimming USS meets. For the rest of us, at nationals at least, there is enough competition within each age group that it makes sense to swim against only the people you're competing with for medals/ribbons. At regional meets, where there may only be 3-5 people in a given age group, seeding by time makes more sense.
Swimming at USS meets is fun, and definitely provides competition.
But it really isn't the same. First of all, you are competing against kids less than half your age (I am as old as the fathers of most of the kids I swim against). Secondly, they do much more training.
So, while a race is a race, I would probably feel a little more urgency in competing against a Mike Ross, Jeff Commings or Paul Smith -- even if they are not in my age group -- compared to someone barely old enough to drive a car.
Look, I understand the arguments and I don't really expect nationals to change. It would probably lose some of the drama if someone sets a WR for his/her age group but gets fourth in the heat. It would make Mark Gill's job a little harder too. (Maybe that's a plus?)
But it does seem a bit of a discrepancy how almost everyone says in the other poll that PBs are the most important thing to them, that placing is secondary...but then a sizeable number of those people don't want to swim in a format that would provide the most competition and possibly push them to swim faster.
Maybe placing is more important than people like to admit to themselves?
(Personally, I'd love the chance to give Mr. Commings something to think about on the plane trip back home.)
