So new to this...

RE: So new to this...

Former Member — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 15:13:24 GMT

This was one of the questions I had about trying to register for an event. I have never competed in a USMS event before so I don't have any time recorded. I am interested in competing in the spring nationals and was told by the event coordinators I needed to list a time if I wanted to compete in the 50 & 100 free. So, do I list my average from my practice swims? Swim each one for time, then maybe knock off 1 sec for the 50 and 2 off the 100, as you'll have the advantage of a dive, some adrenaline etc. That should give you a close enough time to be seeded well. In my patchy experience you may well have a couple of people way ahead of you in your heat as they deliberately entered slow times, or they entered time from a year or more ago and have improved significantly. Go with your best estimate :)

RE: So new to this...

Former Member — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 13:09:56 GMT

New question… I saw on the "rant thread" folks, well, ranting, about people who put NT as their seed instead of estimating it. I assumed the time column on the entry form was for official times, and I don't have any official times. Should I time myself on the events I plan to do and put those times on the form? For example, I want to do the 500 free. The last time we did a timed 500 in practice I got 8:37. Should I put that on the form? This was one of the questions I had about trying to register for an event. I have never competed in a USMS event before so I don't have any time recorded. I am interested in competing in the spring nationals and was told by the event coordinators I needed to list a time if I wanted to compete in the 50 & 100 free. So, do I list my average from my practice swims?

RE: So new to this...

Former Member — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 10:28:51 GMT

She says this, then crushes everyone every meet when she does her "meet marathon" (50 fly, 100 fly, 200 fly, 200 IM, 400 IM) OK so I admit, the 400IM is an event I want to do before I'm 40. Hmmm not even sure "want" is the right expression. However - it involves 3 backstroke turns, so can wait a good year or 2. How did you know about my "meet marathon" past anyway?

RE: So new to this...

bzaks1424 — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 10:17:33 GMT

PS: Username = story of my life.........good, but could do better She says this, then crushes everyone every meet when she does her "meet marathon" (50 fly, 100 fly, 200 fly, 200 IM, 400 IM)

RE: So new to this...

Former Member — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:23:11 GMT

So one could put whatever they want in for a seed time? Since this is my thread anyway :lmao:, I just want to brag on my 500 time a little: Jan 4 (9:28)  Jan 18 (9:07)  Feb 1 (8:37) My husband thinks it's "great," but I'm not sure he "get's it." And my daughter seems peeved that I'm faster than her and getting faster. In short - yes, put in whatever you want! I have just entered my first ever 500 free (used to swim 400 SCM in the UK ermm 5 or so years ago) and put in a time that I think is achievable, and hope to beat by 5 secs - although I swam a full 24 seconds slower than said entry time this week:blush: Also depending on the size of the meet, there may well be just a couple of heats, so you could be swimming with a massive range of ages and abilities anyway. I still think its better to enter an estimate than no time at all. As for blocks, you will get a chance to practice in warm-up, but if you're doing distance you can afford to take the dive a bit more gently (if that's the right term) than if you were doing a 50. PS: Username = story of my life.........good, but could do better

RE: So new to this...

Former Member — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 13:14:27 GMT

At my meets around 80% of the swimmers round their entry time to the nearest second for short events. For longer events they are often rounded to the nearest 5 seconds. Enter your best estimate so you will get a competitive heat.

RE: So new to this...

Former Member — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 10:47:36 GMT

RE: So new to this...

Former Member — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 10:27:19 GMT

RE: So new to this...

Former Member — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 09:50:42 GMT

RE: So new to this...

Former Member — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 09:49:17 GMT

Couldbebetterfly/Louise, thanks for the welcome. I love your username. The websites for local groups around here seem, uh, less than helpful. But I will resort to e-mail and the telephone if I have to! Orca/Oz, thank you! I am having a lot of fun. Michael, I would try to claim I detest bad puns… but just look at my username. -hangs head in shame-

RE: So new to this...

KEWebb18 — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 08:36:09 GMT

Well, that brings up another concern… I haven't gone off a starting block in 20 years. I assume I'll get to practice it in warmups at the meet. Other than that, I don't know if I'll have an opportunity due to the no diving rule at the Y. If you are worried about diving off of the blocks, you don't have to. I have seen plenty of swimmers of all ages start from the side. Do you have a team with a coach that you can warm up with? I didn't go off of a block for quite a few years and found it helpful to have someone at least start me for the warm ups and give me things to work on for the next race.

RE: So new to this...

bzaks1424 — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 05:50:21 GMT

Since this is my thread anyway :lmao:, I just want to brag on my 500 time a little: Jan 4 (9:28)  Jan 18 (9:07)  Feb 1 (8:37) So basically you're dropping 30 seconds every 2 weeks! That's impressive! Now I want to see what you drop when you do it in meets. :) I would not be the least bit surprised to see you drop nearly 45 seconds to a minute when you swim the 500 fresh.

RE: So new to this...

bzaks1424 — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 05:34:03 GMT

Well, that brings up another concern… I haven't gone off a starting block in 20 years. I assume I'll get to practice it in warmups at the meet. Other than that, I don't know if I'll have an opportunity due to the no diving rule at the Y. I hope to go faster than 8:37, as that was well into the workout when he sprang it on us. But if I put NT, won't that put me in a heat that's even slower? Or am I deluding myself into thinking that there is anyone (other than triathletes ;) ) who is slower than me? In other words are estimates allowed, or is the entry form looking strictly for official times? Estimates are totally fine. I use them all the time. You will DEFINITELY swim faster than 8:37. Make sure to do a few practice dives during warmups at the meet. They'll have a "sprint lane" which is for starts and sprints. Also - don't be ashamed to put in NT, especially as a beginner. A lot of vets will have NT as well - mostly because they did a deck entry, or for a myriad of other reasons. If you have a goal time, put it in. If not, NT is totally fine.

RE: So new to this...

bzaks1424 — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 04:53:30 GMT

Should I time myself on the events I plan to do and put those times on the form? For example, I want to do the 500 free. The last time we did a timed 500 in practice I got 8:37. Should I put that on the form? Were you rested and did you dive in from the blocks? If not - then no. You'll most definitely swim much faster than that in an actual race.

RE: So new to this...

bzaks1424 — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 10:44:24 GMT

It sounds as if you will fit right in with us! Have fun in all things you try! Or to say something punny: Have fun in all things you tri

RE: So new to this...

Former Member — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 08:27:44 GMT

Thanks Checking out nearby clubs is good tip! I'll give that a try.

RE: So new to this...

orca1946 — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 06:31:51 GMT

It sounds as if you will fit right in with us! Have fun in all things you try!

RE: So new to this...

Former Member — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 13:49:35 GMT

So I'm even later than Michael to respond but :welcome: If you look at the USMS places to swim page you can find your nearest Masters team. It may not be near enough or convenient enough for you to train with them on a daily/weelky basis, but check out their website. They'll likely have links or a listng of local meets that they want to offer to their swimmers. Its what I do....:blush:

RE: So new to this...

Former Member — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 08:48:08 GMT

I did see the March 26th one. But "State Championships"? Doesn't one need to qualify or something?

RE: So new to this...

Former Member — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 08:16:44 GMT

c2n1ne, I found out about this meet online and right there was a link to the entry form in PDF. And like a tri, I just printed it, filled it out, and mailed it in with a check. Is your trouble in choosing the events? The form I filled out said I could pick 5 events, but I only chose 3. And I chose them based on how evening spread out they were. I want time to recover, darnit! :cane: lol

RE: So new to this...

Former Member — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 08:15:22 GMT

I found the rulebook. It wasn't that hard once I actually looked: http://www.usms.org/rules/ So I'm less worried about getting DQ'd now. Arthur, thank you for the link. I like the way they showed the right and the wrong. Michael, thank you for the welcome. I did check the Iowa masters website many times last year and never found a single meet. I concluded that they just didn't exist! I was really excited when I found out about the Cedar Fall meet on the website of a local running store (Fitness Sports). Five meets a year might be enough for me, but right now I can only find two: Saturday, March 5, 2011: 2011 Panther Masters Swim Meet, Cedar Falls, Iowa Saturday, May 7, 2011: Simpson STORM Masters (SC-25-Meters) Swim Meet, Indianola, Iowa If you know of any others I would love to know. If you do head to any, let me know that too. It's fun to know someone when you go somewhere, even if you don't know them.

RE: So new to this...

Former Member — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 07:18:05 GMT

RE: So new to this...

bzaks1424 — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 03:55:50 GMT

I did see the March 26th one. But "State Championships"? Doesn't one need to qualify or something? I took a look at the PDF - and there are no Qualifying times for eligibility requirements. You should be able to just go. The only USMS meet that limits (and it only limits your event signup) based on times that I know of is nationals.

RE: So new to this...

bzaks1424 — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 03:27:23 GMT

Iowa Masters Meet Info Page There's one on March 26th as well - its the state SCY Championships. I'll be there for that in Iowa City. Look for the the slow guy in the Tuxedo Speedo.

RE: So new to this...

bzaks1424 — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 02:26:01 GMT

I am also new to competitive swimming. My how to questions concern the process of actually signing up for a meet, as well as what happens at a meet. None of my kids swam so I'm really clueless about the whole process. I compete in tris and running events. With these you just register and send your entry fee and you're in. Signing up for swimming events seems more complicated from what infomation I've been able to find. There are a couple of ways to do this, these are two that I like to think about: 1) Pick the events you're best at. If you're a freestyler - you pick free style events you want to do. If you're a stroker - you swim strokes or any combination variant there in. Or - and this is my favorite: 2) Pick random events. Have fun with it. You're new to it might as well try a bit of everything. Example: I started doing just sprints, but after basically trying everything once (except anything over a 50 fly or 50 ***) however now - I really prefer mid and long distance events. My next meet will be 200 Free, 200 Back, 200 IM, 100 IM and 1000 Free. I even had a vote on my facebook wall for what events I should do. (Coach said 100 IM, so I just listened to her)