Many swimmers I have talked to over the years have said that they would like to race some nonstandard event. Frequently mentioned examples are: a 75 butterfly, a 3-stroke IM, a 25 SDK, or a distance stroke event. Suppose you could enter some nonstandard events at a SCY meet, what would you pick? Perhaps a 2x400 breaststroke family relay? (Count me out on that one, but it does sound cool.) I thought about posting a poll, but it would be difficult to list all of the possibilities and I might miss some good idea, so I'm just inviting free-form response. Second question: would you travel to Philadelphia to swim it?
Some type of freestyle medley would be cool. In track they have a 200mx200mx800mx400m.
In swimming there could be a 50freex50freex200freex100free. Cool right?
While not exactly on topic, I wish smaller meets would be seeded mixed sex based on time. I think that would even out a lot of the heats and make for better racing.
I agree with you on this one, Geek. (Can you believe it?). I have won my heat in 50 and 100 breaststroke in the smaller local meets I have competed in this year, but it would have been a lot more exciting if there had been someone to actually compete with and push me for a better time. The only race I have had competition in at these meets has been 200 breaststroke, because the men and women (uh, make that woman- me) have been thrown into the one and only heat of that event.
In swimming there could be a 50freex50freex200freex100free. Cool right?
Back in high school we swam a relay meet at the beginning of each season that had a crescendo free relay. It went 50, 100, 150, 200. I think it's a pretty common race at relay meets. The other fun one is the backstroke relay where everyone except the leadoff swimmer does a forward start and then flips over before surfacing.
I would like to see a relay where all four members swim at the same time. Your team is done when the last person touches the wall. So for example, the race could be 500 yards. Strategy, drafting, and team unity would be key.
This is a great idea! It's very similar to the team pursuit event in speed skating (maybe cycling, too?). If you wanted to make it similar to the skating event you'd have only two teams in the water at the same time and they'd start from opposite ends of the pool. It's single elimination, so times are really irrelevant.
Any-distance kick event (with or without board...though "with board" would be kind of fun)
An "anything goes" event where any equipment (fins, paddles, etc) is allowed.
Oooo, I LOVE this one!!
I have this feeling that events like the 75 or 150 fly are a symptom of "the grass is greener" syndrome. As in, "my 200 fly would have been just great...if it had ended at 150!"
But I have a suspicion that 75/150 fly would hurt just as badly as their longer counterparts...
You could be right....
Many years ago my club and another local club did a "fun meet" on a Saturday afternoon. We interspersed regular events with fun events. Another year we did an all relay meet that was mixed between regulation relays and fun relays. This was our agenda for one of the meets I could find that may (or may not) have ideas:
1A. 200 Mixed Medley Relay, heat 1 (ages 19-44)
1B. 200 Mixed Medley Relay, heat 2 (ages 45+)
2. 50 Under/Over (first length underwater, second length freestyle)
3. 100 Back
4. 50 ***
5. 100 Kick (in water start/no arm pulls prior to turns/no Zoomers)
6. 100 Fly
7. 50 Free
8. 50 yard Mixed Siamese swim (must maintain body contact throughout entire 50)
9. 100 IM
10. 50 Back
11. 100 ***
12. 8x25 kickboard relay (each person collects the kickboard(s) from the previous person)
13. 50 Fly
14. 100 Free
15. 200 T-shirt relay (4x50, pass t-shirt to following swimmer at the relay exchange)
16A. 200 Free Relay, heat 1 (ages 19-44)
16B. 200 Free Relay, heat 2 (ages 45+)
17. Party! A potluck dinner social will be held after the meet. Directions available at the meet.
... BEER RELAY! :chug:
I just went to a 2 day meet last weekend (Steve Barden Memorial Masters Swim Meet, 9/18-19, 2010, hosted by Asheville Masters) that featured a fun event at the end of each day. The 1st day was 100 choice with fins, the second day a 4x50 free relay where you had to stop at the far end and chug 8 oz. of beer or Gatorade (yours truely chose beer, of course!)
That was fun! Even though I duct taped my flippers to my feet, one still flew off halfway through the race, alas. I thought duct tape was supposed to work for everything?!?! The relay was a hoot too, and everyone was in good spirits when the meet ended. Thanks to Asheville Masters for making it fun!
My choices for non-standard events -- Anything with fins, what fun! Also 500 and 1000 stroke (back, *** or fly) and 800 IM. Ok sprinters ... 25 stroke as well. The Aussies do this right.
I don't think I would be travelling that far, but I think the "anything goes" event would be awesome. I'm really curious to see what types of things would be tried.
