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.:)
Which is more unsportsmanlike: a guy who is on the slow side knowing the 3 free event rule avoids the obvious "temptation" of entering say 50s or 100s and enters and completes a mile in close to an hour, a 400 IM in 20 plus minutes, and some other event in an inordinate amount of time or say some hypothetical guy who enters a bogus time for a 400 so he can catch the only nonstop out of Birmingham to surprise his mommy for her 85th birthday?
C'mon man have a heart...it's nana we're talking about here.
Being a slow swimmer is unsportsmanlike? Huh. Perhaps USA-S meets would be more to your liking.
As far as your mom, that's sweet. Why did you enter the 400 if it is so important to you? Sounds like you are trying to have your cake and eat it too. (Or maybe that's your mom's cake...)
Which is more unsportsmanlike: a guy who is on the slow side knowing the 3 free event rule avoids the obvious "temptation" of entering say 50s or 100s and enters and completes a mile in close to an hour, a 400 IM in 20 plus minutes, and some other event in an inordinate amount of time or say some hypothetical guy who enters a bogus time for a 400 so he can catch the only nonstop out of Birmingham to surprise his mommy for her 85th birthday?
C'mon man have a heart...it's nana we're talking about here.
Being a slow swimmer is unsportsmanlike? Huh. Perhaps USA-S meets would be more to your liking.
As far as your mom, that's sweet. Why did you enter the 400 if it is so important to you? Sounds like you are trying to have your cake and eat it too. (Or maybe that's your mom's cake...)
