You're not a sprinter and you're not a pure distance swimmer. Your 50's & 1500's aren't as great as your 200's, 400's, & 500's. Your 100's aren't shabby. Let the D Divas take those 800's, 1000's, 1500's & 1650's. You're caught in the middle. You've got OK speed, but you can do those longer sets that make pure sprinters ill. You're well conditioned and tend to do well with back to back events. You're in great company, Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte are middle distance swimmers who have excellent 100's but not so great 50's. Man you can train.
This is the middle distance lane. Don't get lapped.
the breastroke lane
The Middle Distance Lane
The Backstroke Lane
The Butterfly Lane
The SDK Lane
The Taper Lane
The Distance Lane
The IM Lane
The Sprint Free Lane
The Pool Deck
Counting SCM 400 Free
Last month I swam a 400 SCM free. The event was seeded fast-to-slow; I was in the first heat. There were 10 lanes in the pool. As we were mounting the blocks, I saw our 10 counters parade onto the bulkhead, carrying their lap counters. Take your marks, and away we go.
I am pretty good at counting, so I asked my buddy to dunk only laps 11, 13, and 15. I was pretty sure I had counted correctly, so I was a little surprised at the end of lap 11 -- no counter in the pool. Ok, maybe I am off, or maybe he just forgot.
End of lap 13 -- still no counter. Something's wrong. Hope my buddy didn't have a heart attack from all the excitement. I will have to count it myself. Hope I did it right! The guy in the next lane is ahead of me, so I'll stop when he does. I hope he's right too! End of lap 15, still no counter, in the middle of the sprint -- I REALLY hope I'm right! I don't have another 50 left in me after this one!
After the race, I asked my buddy what happened. He said an official had marched onto the bulkhead, after the race had already started, and declared it was illegal to count any distance less than 500 yards. So all the counters left, certainly to my surprise, and presumably to the surprise of the other 9 swimmers in the pool.
This rule is news to me. This is the 3rd 400 SCM free I've done, and for the other two (including at this same meet last year), everyone had counters, no problem.
I have two questions:
1. Is this really a rule? Are you allowed to have counters in a 400 SCM freestyle? How about 400 LCM? For safety's sake I like having a counter, but not having one won't be a problem. I'd just like to know the what rule is.
2. Um ... ahem ... what??? If the official was determined to make this call, then it would have been far better to do so before the race started, and then to make sure all swimmers understood that there would be no counters. As it was, all 10 swimmers had arranged to have a counter, so clearly all 10 swimmers thought that having a counter was legal and appropriate. Pulling the counters off the bulkhead after the race had already started is tantamount to changing the rules in the middle of the race :eek: as least as far as the swimmers were concerned. What sayest thou?
Extra for experts -- I have also been told that it's not legal to have a counter dunk some of the laps -- like 11, 13, and 15 only -- it must be all or none. Others have said this is an NCAA rule but not masters. Personally, I don't know. Any clues are welcome. Thanks!
Counting SCM 400 Free
Last month I swam a 400 SCM free. The event was seeded fast-to-slow; I was in the first heat. There were 10 lanes in the pool. As we were mounting the blocks, I saw our 10 counters parade onto the bulkhead, carrying their lap counters. Take your marks, and away we go.
I am pretty good at counting, so I asked my buddy to dunk only laps 11, 13, and 15. I was pretty sure I had counted correctly, so I was a little surprised at the end of lap 11 -- no counter in the pool. Ok, maybe I am off, or maybe he just forgot.
End of lap 13 -- still no counter. Something's wrong. Hope my buddy didn't have a heart attack from all the excitement. I will have to count it myself. Hope I did it right! The guy in the next lane is ahead of me, so I'll stop when he does. I hope he's right too! End of lap 15, still no counter, in the middle of the sprint -- I REALLY hope I'm right! I don't have another 50 left in me after this one!
After the race, I asked my buddy what happened. He said an official had marched onto the bulkhead, after the race had already started, and declared it was illegal to count any distance less than 500 yards. So all the counters left, certainly to my surprise, and presumably to the surprise of the other 9 swimmers in the pool.
This rule is news to me. This is the 3rd 400 SCM free I've done, and for the other two (including at this same meet last year), everyone had counters, no problem.
I have two questions:
1. Is this really a rule? Are you allowed to have counters in a 400 SCM freestyle? How about 400 LCM? For safety's sake I like having a counter, but not having one won't be a problem. I'd just like to know the what rule is.
2. Um ... ahem ... what??? If the official was determined to make this call, then it would have been far better to do so before the race started, and then to make sure all swimmers understood that there would be no counters. As it was, all 10 swimmers had arranged to have a counter, so clearly all 10 swimmers thought that having a counter was legal and appropriate. Pulling the counters off the bulkhead after the race had already started is tantamount to changing the rules in the middle of the race :eek: as least as far as the swimmers were concerned. What sayest thou?
Extra for experts -- I have also been told that it's not legal to have a counter dunk some of the laps -- like 11, 13, and 15 only -- it must be all or none. Others have said this is an NCAA rule but not masters. Personally, I don't know. Any clues are welcome. Thanks!
