The anti-sandbag law:
"if a swimmer enters an event with a time significantly slower or faster than that swimmer's recorded time in the past two years, the meet director may, after a discussion with the swimmer, change the seeded time to a realistic time" (104.5.5.A(10)).
Concerning my Auburn nationals entry, I confess, when faced with a 7 hour 2 stop flight and 3:45 nonstop at an earlier time, I did what any warm-blooded middle-aged American swimmer with low self-esteem would do--sandbag my entry so I could catch the earlier flight, thus diminishing the possible time spent sitting next to a 400 pound Alabama slammer with sleep apnea wearing nothing but overalls and body odor. Of course, I was caught in my bold fabrication and my time was "fixed."
USMS seems to have an identity problem. Are we hard core with rigid qualifying times? It would seem not as 2 of my not-so-speedy family members were allowed to swim four events last year in Puerto Rico. If we are not hard core, why does anybody care that I sandbag? More to the point, why can one person enter a crappy time and another cannot? Just wondering.:)
It's not all black and white.
Actually, part of it is black and white. There is no arguing that when you sandbag you are asking everyone else in your event to swim by your wishes. You cannot control how others feel about it, nor whether they are ok with it. If I get in a heat where the person next to me sandbags, for whatever legit or illegit reason, I am annoyed because that means I won't be racing the person that should have been beside me. And, if I'm in lane 1 or 8 (where I seem to reside these days) I get no racing at all.
It's not all black and white.
Actually, part of it is black and white. There is no arguing that when you sandbag you are asking everyone else in your event to swim by your wishes. You cannot control how others feel about it, nor whether they are ok with it. If I get in a heat where the person next to me sandbags, for whatever legit or illegit reason, I am annoyed because that means I won't be racing the person that should have been beside me. And, if I'm in lane 1 or 8 (where I seem to reside these days) I get no racing at all.
