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.:)
OK, after reading this thread, I am now not only paranoid; I'm obsessed (to the point of sending out a couple of PM's on the subject). :confused:
How do I know what seed times to put down for Auburn (and whether I really qualify for a 4th event*), when physical issues make predicting my times nearly impossible? Not only is two months out a total guess; so is week-to-week and day-to-day! My body's hypersensitivity to heat (still undiagnosed) and cold (Raynaud's) make for very unpredictable performance predictions; especially since my reaction to heat often causes sleep problems. Except for Mesa, I never know what the pool/air conditions will be like for a meet. Will the air be very hot and humid? If I am stuck doing warm-ups or warm-downs in the kiddie pool or dive tank where the water is often above 85 degrees, will my body have a meltdown? My performance can even change drastically from day to day in the same meet, depending on the night I had in between, as a reaction to heat exposure. I scratched the 200 breaststroke on Sunday, at Mesa, because I knew if I attempted it, I would have been the first (and only) rescue! :afraid:
*I qualified in the 50yd breaststroke, last September, so technically I can convert that time and qualify for Auburn. But, I
have been anywhere from 2-3+ seconds off since! :badday:
Thanks, in advance, for any polite feedback any of you can offer. Hopefully, by posting on this thread, your responses will provide guidance to other swimmers who may be feeling like they are in the same boat (uhhhh, POOL.).
Hey Elaine, I'm probably in the same situation you are w/o the health issues. I've never raced long course before so I have absolutely no idea how to accurately seed my times. I'm just going to convert my Feb. Auburn times and hope it is close. Do your best to be accurate... that is all they ask for. Yes, you and I both may waste some meet time because we aren't experienced swimmers and our seeds are variable. They know that and they know we aren't intentionally sandbagging.
As for the conditions, I can throw around some rumors and guesses (probably as accurate as my seed times). Maybe someone with better connections can confirm/deny. There's an outside 50m pool that will probably be set up for long course warm ups. I recall it being next to the aquatic center but still a decent walk away from the main pool. Plan on the outdoor pool being hot and muggy. No different than what you deal with in Georgia in the summer. If you are hypersensitive to heat, I wouldn't warm up there. I think the main pool is 65m long. There will probably be warm up lanes in the diving well which should be 79 to 80 degrees. If these exist, they will be 25 yards... just like in feb. They will probably also open up the other indoor pool which I believe is also kept at a cool temperature. Everything in the aquatic center should be air conditioned and kept at a comfy temp. I can verify some of this (pool temps/ Aquatic center temps) tomorrow morning if you want.
OK, after reading this thread, I am now not only paranoid; I'm obsessed (to the point of sending out a couple of PM's on the subject). :confused:
How do I know what seed times to put down for Auburn (and whether I really qualify for a 4th event*), when physical issues make predicting my times nearly impossible? Not only is two months out a total guess; so is week-to-week and day-to-day! My body's hypersensitivity to heat (still undiagnosed) and cold (Raynaud's) make for very unpredictable performance predictions; especially since my reaction to heat often causes sleep problems. Except for Mesa, I never know what the pool/air conditions will be like for a meet. Will the air be very hot and humid? If I am stuck doing warm-ups or warm-downs in the kiddie pool or dive tank where the water is often above 85 degrees, will my body have a meltdown? My performance can even change drastically from day to day in the same meet, depending on the night I had in between, as a reaction to heat exposure. I scratched the 200 breaststroke on Sunday, at Mesa, because I knew if I attempted it, I would have been the first (and only) rescue! :afraid:
*I qualified in the 50yd breaststroke, last September, so technically I can convert that time and qualify for Auburn. But, I
have been anywhere from 2-3+ seconds off since! :badday:
Thanks, in advance, for any polite feedback any of you can offer. Hopefully, by posting on this thread, your responses will provide guidance to other swimmers who may be feeling like they are in the same boat (uhhhh, POOL.).
Hey Elaine, I'm probably in the same situation you are w/o the health issues. I've never raced long course before so I have absolutely no idea how to accurately seed my times. I'm just going to convert my Feb. Auburn times and hope it is close. Do your best to be accurate... that is all they ask for. Yes, you and I both may waste some meet time because we aren't experienced swimmers and our seeds are variable. They know that and they know we aren't intentionally sandbagging.
As for the conditions, I can throw around some rumors and guesses (probably as accurate as my seed times). Maybe someone with better connections can confirm/deny. There's an outside 50m pool that will probably be set up for long course warm ups. I recall it being next to the aquatic center but still a decent walk away from the main pool. Plan on the outdoor pool being hot and muggy. No different than what you deal with in Georgia in the summer. If you are hypersensitive to heat, I wouldn't warm up there. I think the main pool is 65m long. There will probably be warm up lanes in the diving well which should be 79 to 80 degrees. If these exist, they will be 25 yards... just like in feb. They will probably also open up the other indoor pool which I believe is also kept at a cool temperature. Everything in the aquatic center should be air conditioned and kept at a comfy temp. I can verify some of this (pool temps/ Aquatic center temps) tomorrow morning if you want.
