At Nationals we seem to have gone to having a relay early on the last day.At Mesa it is the MR and it is right before the 200 BR.I think this is a lousy time to have a relay.I know the idea is to not have a relay as the last event so that people who want/need to leave early can swim it,but that could be accomplished by having 2 relays at the end of the previous day.I know many of you will just say "man up",but look at it this way,the difference between 1st and 2nd,or 3rd and 4th(3rd being the last of the "big medals") or 10th and 11th(10th getting a medal,11th not) could be .01 sec.You train for months,taper,fly across country,pay for a hotel,do everything you can to swim your best,and then can either be a lousy teammate and skip the relay or swim your event with less than adequate rest.If you are in an older age group ,but are on a small team that can only field a team in a younger age group you could end up with very little rest indeed.I'd like to see this changed.
At Nationals we seem to have gone to having a relay early on the last day.At Mesa it is the MR and it is right before the 200 BR.I think this is a lousy time to have a relay.I know the idea is to not have a relay as the last event so that people who want/need to leave early can swim it,but that could be accomplished by having 2 relays at the end of the previous day.I know many of you will just say "man up",but look at it this way,the difference between 1st and 2nd,or 3rd and 4th(3rd being the last of the "big medals") or 10th and 11th(10th getting a medal,11th not) could be .01 sec.You train for months,taper,fly across country,pay for a hotel,do everything you can to swim your best,and then can either be a lousy teammate and skip the relay or swim your event with less than adequate rest.If you are in an older age group ,but are on a small team that can only field a team in a younger age group you could end up with very little rest indeed.I'd like to see this changed.
Hate being told to "man up" myself. The fact is that sprinters need rest and masters, as we get older, need rest to swim at our best. Even Dennis Baker recommends swimming few events if you want superlative times. I completely understand your pain, as I too am somewhat fanatic about getting adequate rest.
For your sake, I hope it's a 200 medley relay. Starting off with a 400 medley relay would be awful.
At Nationals we seem to have gone to having a relay early on the last day.At Mesa it is the MR and it is right before the 200 BR.I think this is a lousy time to have a relay.I know the idea is to not have a relay as the last event so that people who want/need to leave early can swim it,but that could be accomplished by having 2 relays at the end of the previous day....I'd like to see this changed.
There already ARE two relays at the end of the previous day (mixed 200 MR and M/F 200 FR). And it is already the longest day at nationals (usually).
So the other option would be to have it on Friday. I think the reason that isn't done is that many people can only get the weekend off to swim in a meet, so putting two relays on a Friday isn't so good.
Someone always loses at nationals. At least the event order changes each time.
Lots of people do sprints at the end of warmup. Think of the 50 BR in the relay as the last little bit of your warmup for the 200 BR.
Or simply ask that you not be put in the relay on Sunday morning. I don't think it is an unreasonable request if you are in the first event after the relay. If your team insists on putting you in there, tell them you will be going at 90% effort...if your 90% effort is better than someone else's 100%, so be it.
For your sake, I hope it's a 200 medley relay. Starting off with a 400 medley relay would be awful.
There are usually no 400 relays at nationals (Indy was an exception).
Hopefully there's one thing we can all agree on: if you say you're willing to do relays then SHOW UP for them! I can remember a couple times at Nationals where the relay team I was on got to the blocks only to find someone was a no-show.
Agreed, but I think this is easier said than done. When you actually get in that race environment it's hard to hold back!
At Nats in Oregon we swam 3/4 of a relay as our freestyler was mistakenly told he wasn't on the relay. He is someone reliable (and the person who told him evidently not)so we expected him at the last minute and so started anyway.
we expected him at the last minute and so started anyway.
If my memory is correct the same thing happened on one of the PNA relays so David Margrave swam two legs when the fourth swimmer never showed up. Yes, they were DQed! :banana:
Fortunately distance swimmers are always able to take time off in the middle of the week for their events.
I wish I was able to take off enough to make it there early. I'd at least be there for the 400 IM Friday...and possibly would have done the 1650 also on Thursday...but that would be two 1650s this season...which is WAY over the maximum allowed for my body. :)
Fortunately distance swimmers are always able to take time off in the middle of the week for their events.
Heck, most distance swimmers are able to take time off IN THE MIDDLE OF THEIR RACES for relays, without anyone else even noticing... :bolt:
