Opinions wanted on this one -
I have a meet this weekend and on day 2 the 500 FR is seeded by time and gender (men are separated from women.) I am actually used to swimming mixed seeding in distance events.
Provided the meet director would accommodate me (and s/he may not), would you ask to be seeded with the men to get the full racing experience?
As it stands, I'm seeded 1st of the women (2nd place is 48 seconds behind) and I would be seeded 5th with the men.
The only other thing to consider is that if I swim with the women, I will have 1 hour rest until my next event. If I swim with the men, I will have about 30 minutes until my next event. And I have 3 events left to swim after the 500 FR.
And, to confirm, am I correct in assuming that if I swam with the men, the time would not count for USMS purposes due to my changing the event/ program order? But am I correct in assuming that my other swims would count assuming all the rules are followed?
This meet is for pure racing fun. Times are irrelevant for me. Oh, and I'm used to swimming by myself which I find sort of boring; however, I have gone PB's swimming solo or having competition. And, I will get creamed by some of the top men (will be a fast heat), but that does not bother me greatly. It's more of a learning experience.
Thanks!
Since you just want a racing experience and your 500 has been stagnant, I would go ahead and request the change. I do not know if the race will count; if you care then you should ask beforehand.
30 minutes rest should be fine with your background. It would be totally worth it if the competition pushed you into a big improvement, don't you think?
But here's another thought: you need to learn to swim this race -- any race, really -- on your own. There may well be meets, perhaps even tapered meets, when you don't have someone in your heat to push you. So you should learn what various paces feel like, and pay attention to the feedback your body is giving you.
In other words, if you somehow aren't allowed to swim with the guys, or you decide that your other races are pretty important and you want more rest, look on the 500 as an opportunity to develop your pacing skills. There is no reason you can't have a good swim with just the clock as your "competitor."
Jim, you bring up some excellent scenarios that I would NOT have thought of. Glad I asked.
On #2 - I'm putting myself at a disadvantage rest-wise if I swim with the men. If I swim with the men, my rest will be cut in half and I will have only 30 minutes to my next event. If I swim with the women, I will have just over 1 hour of rest. So it's actually to my competitors' advantage if I were to swim with the men.
#1 point - I checked and I would not be splitting up any men in the same age group.
I wonder if there are other scenarios I have not thought of. . .
As a man, of sorts, my instinct is to tell you to stick with your own gender and humiliate them, not me. However, when you mentioned that the second place time was 48 seconds slower, it did seem kind of unfair that magnificence of your sort cannot be stoked by actual competition with someone(s) as fast and maybe a wee bit faster than you.
I say that if the Kentucky Derby lets fillies run with the stallions, and the occasional gelding, they there should be room for us all in the 500 seeding.
The only possible flies in the ointment I can espy are:
1) if you bump some guy down one heat who would otherwise be racing someone in his same age group that he was hoping to beat for the points. However, even in such an unlikely scenario, chances are the guy you bumped down would be in an end lane, and the guy he was racing would be in the opposite end lane, so they probably wouldn't see each other well anyhow
2) assume that the woman who is now seeded 48 seconds behind you inthe women's 500 is not much of a distance swimmer but is an excellent sprinter. assume, furthermore, that you are racing her in the next event, a sprint, for which you will have gotten an hour's rest and she only 30 minutes. If she is of a suitably ill-termpered nature, i can see her crying, "Foul!"
Such quibbles aside, I think the swimming world simply needs to do what I have long ago decided to do when it comes to CreamPuff. Acknowledge her magnificence, bow down, and worship.
Thanks Geek, Vive, and Kirk for the advice. :)
Les, I do not like the 500 (particularly after lopping off 10 seconds in my 1000 and 3 in my 200.) The 500 has been stagnant. Sort of curious to see how I would do under a *pressure-cooker* situation. @ the USS Auburn meet (where I was sick) I sort of cracked under the pressure of a very fast heat. I'd sort of like a re-do, even with a chance of failure.
You will be swimming your own race either way, and there are benefits to swimming with the woman with more rest, guaranteed that the times will count and no trouble dealing with the meet director.
Are the men really close enough to your times that you will actually get a good race out of it so it is worth the trouble? If the guys that are slower than you are much slower and the fast guys are much faster, what is the benefit of swimming in the wave pool?
Now, if out of the 7 guys that will be in your heat, 5 of them are within 10 seconds of your time, then I see a good reason to go through the trouble.
Kristina,
Good luck at the Dynamo Meet. I always remember the distance events being seeded mixed...to speed up the meet. At least you have time to rest, get something to eat, and get warm for your next heat. I never could stay warm enough! At least you are at sea level. Our state meet which is bigger than Dynamo is next week at Denver U. We just got tons of snow in the mountains, so I will be skiing next week and trying to get a few swims at 9000 ft. It is frustrating because they keep the Silverthorne and Breckenridge pool so hot and there are no back stroke flags on one side!
