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.:)
I'm glad all you guys are so willing to dismiss the concerns of the opposite sex in mixed gender meets. As I asked before, and no one answered, is it fair for the fastest women to swim in outside lanes while the fastest men swim in center lanes or for women generally to get more outside lanes? Is this concern really tantamount to seeing "shadows" in lanes? Doesn't really seem all that sporting to me or to other women.
I'm not sure I understand why the gender matters, unless you're talking about a competitive standpoint of wanting to race your peers for place. In which case, sandbagging does not help either, because you've put yourself with slower swimmers.
With relation to possible wake issues, anyone who isn't the fastest in their event has to deal with that potential problem. Don't the top men who are 50 or 60 years old have to deal with that as well? You also mentioned a size factor earlier, but that's simply part of the sport. As a 155-160lb guy, I deal with that at every high level meet I attend. Jeff Dash was next to me in Atlanta and he's approximately 240 lbs of solid muscle (that's not an exaggeration either). Our relay was next to Auburn, that was pleasant as well :). What I'm trying to say is that plenty of people experience your concerns, but the rules are in place to benefit the majority, not a select few.
I think adversity treats you well anyways. Don't fight it. :angel:
I'm glad all you guys are so willing to dismiss the concerns of the opposite sex in mixed gender meets. As I asked before, and no one answered, is it fair for the fastest women to swim in outside lanes while the fastest men swim in center lanes or for women generally to get more outside lanes? Is this concern really tantamount to seeing "shadows" in lanes? Doesn't really seem all that sporting to me or to other women.
I'm not sure I understand why the gender matters, unless you're talking about a competitive standpoint of wanting to race your peers for place. In which case, sandbagging does not help either, because you've put yourself with slower swimmers.
With relation to possible wake issues, anyone who isn't the fastest in their event has to deal with that potential problem. Don't the top men who are 50 or 60 years old have to deal with that as well? You also mentioned a size factor earlier, but that's simply part of the sport. As a 155-160lb guy, I deal with that at every high level meet I attend. Jeff Dash was next to me in Atlanta and he's approximately 240 lbs of solid muscle (that's not an exaggeration either). Our relay was next to Auburn, that was pleasant as well :). What I'm trying to say is that plenty of people experience your concerns, but the rules are in place to benefit the majority, not a select few.
I think adversity treats you well anyways. Don't fight it. :angel:
