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.
A good coach can make the guestimates work pretty well. Prior to a meet, I asked my coach at the time (Ron Johnson) for help with seed times. This was at the end of practice, I had already gotten out. He told me to dive in and do a 50 (I don't remember, but I think around 80%). Based on that 50, he gave me seed times all the way up to a 500 free, and they were all very close. I think the 50 was spot on, 100 within 2 sec, 200 within 3 sec, and the 500 maybe off by 5 sec.
I did have a bad experience at a meet once, and took it a bit personally. Over time, I've come to accept that the experience was limited to a bad apple and not the overall view of masters swimmers. My team had hosted nationals, I had just finished an event, and hadn't done as well as I had hoped. I shared my time with someone in the warm-down pool. He said something like, "Its people like you who make these meets drag on for hours." It took me a while to get over that comment, and other than that my meet experiences have been all positive.
I think the guestimates work better with shorter swims.
A good coach can make the guestimates work pretty well. Prior to a meet, I asked my coach at the time (Ron Johnson) for help with seed times. This was at the end of practice, I had already gotten out. He told me to dive in and do a 50 (I don't remember, but I think around 80%). Based on that 50, he gave me seed times all the way up to a 500 free, and they were all very close. I think the 50 was spot on, 100 within 2 sec, 200 within 3 sec, and the 500 maybe off by 5 sec.
I did have a bad experience at a meet once, and took it a bit personally. Over time, I've come to accept that the experience was limited to a bad apple and not the overall view of masters swimmers. My team had hosted nationals, I had just finished an event, and hadn't done as well as I had hoped. I shared my time with someone in the warm-down pool. He said something like, "Its people like you who make these meets drag on for hours." It took me a while to get over that comment, and other than that my meet experiences have been all positive.
