I did it. I finally got the guts to sign up for my first masters swim meet. I am a little nervous (ok a lot nervous!) about it. From what I have read on here, the atmosphere at most places is pretty friendly and welcoming. Would anyone like to share anything with me on what to expect? How different is it than an age group (other than the obvious lack of kids and parents running around) meet or a high school meet? Those are my only meet experiences. I don't think that it is a large meet, but I am a little nervous about how this whole "masters" thing works.
Thanks!
I think the guestimates work better with shorter swims.
after 200m it's really hard to get a good swim at practice, i think.
I swim the 400m free at practice around 5:05 (never under 5:00 even though I have tried a few times) but I swim in a meet 4:41. my 400m IM guestimate was 5:40 and I swam 5:19.
a friend of mine swam his first masters meet last year, and the meet had a policy that all late entries would be seeded last, so even though he entered with a 9:45 in the 800m he was in heat 1 with people that had 17:00. he opened in 26.?? and wound up swimming 9:32 and should have been in the second to last or last heat. not much fun for him.
If you're entering events you've never swam before, or if you've had a long time off (measured in years or even decades) I'd suggest coming up with some sort of seed time as opposed to entering NT. I've had to get a guestimate on some swims just by swimming them in practice at the beginning right after warm up. You'll swim faster than the guestimates, but it'll probably get you in the right heat for you.
I think the guestimates work better with shorter swims.
after 200m it's really hard to get a good swim at practice, i think.
I swim the 400m free at practice around 5:05 (never under 5:00 even though I have tried a few times) but I swim in a meet 4:41. my 400m IM guestimate was 5:40 and I swam 5:19.
a friend of mine swam his first masters meet last year, and the meet had a policy that all late entries would be seeded last, so even though he entered with a 9:45 in the 800m he was in heat 1 with people that had 17:00. he opened in 26.?? and wound up swimming 9:32 and should have been in the second to last or last heat. not much fun for him.
If you're entering events you've never swam before, or if you've had a long time off (measured in years or even decades) I'd suggest coming up with some sort of seed time as opposed to entering NT. I've had to get a guestimate on some swims just by swimming them in practice at the beginning right after warm up. You'll swim faster than the guestimates, but it'll probably get you in the right heat for you.
