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.:)
Former Member
q brain you are indeed Yoda-like.
How did you know what I looked like?
Triathlon is an inviting sport as evidenced by their meteoric rise in participation, but they don't invite everybody to their championships. Don't get me wrong, I like the inviting nature of our sport and championships, but which are we? Serious or inviting.
There is a good both sides of the lane line. Are Nationals the pinnacle of masters swimming, justifying qualifying times for every event, or an open meet to meet other USMS swimmers from across the country where qualifying times are only enforced for distance events because the timeline of the meet requires it?
If I had to guess: from a timeline perspective, the meet director would prefer that you try to predict what you would actually DO with the split request event. If one defines sandbagging as "entering a time much different than you actually perform," then this wouldn't be sandbagging.
It would probably be courteous to tell others in your heat what you plan to do, and I know some who do just that. Richie Hughey did this in Atlanta when we were next to each other in the 100 back: informed others in the heat (at least, those near him) that he was actually going for a 50 split.
The timeline issue is an administrative one. When I have trained for months to swim the 500, I don't want to see the guy in the adjacent lane blast a 50 and then swim down the remaining 450.
Perhaps. But there seems to be some inconsistency in previously claiming that the effects of sandbagging are "small but not zero" and now saying that there is an actual "victim." Call me crazy and selfish, but victim does not seem to be the right word here.
It's not a crime. There are no victims. But some of us do consider sandbagging unsportsmanlike.
It's not a crime. There are no victims. But some of us do consider sandbagging unsportsmanlike.
Would you not be a victim of unsportsmanlike behavior then?
sandbagging, which is technically illegal
I guess if you throw in "technically" it doesn't make it as illegal.
Second hand smoke is technically illegal too.
Call me crazy and selfish,
Amen.
:chug: Well of course, but... :bouncing:
:dunno: ...Why? :bighug:
For the Both Sides of the Lane Lines column! Of course, she was just kidding about that, and, I have never seen a team against a team, but, just saying... Who would make a better pro-Smilie team than us? :banana:
For the Both Sides of the Lane Lines column! Of course, she was just kidding about that, and, I have never seen a team against a team, but, just saying... Who would make a better pro-Smilie team than us? :banana:
I guess I just wasn't feeling very argumentative this morning.:thewave:
I don't attend all that many myself, but one of my fav SCM meets of the year is mixed.Albatross is one of my favorite meets as well, if not my favorite. You seem to to reasonably well there though. I think what comes around goes around though- Jeff should put you between Clay and Chris in the backstrokes next time.:waiting:
That Guy will back me up on this one; right, That Guy?
:chug: Well of course, but... :bouncing:
What do ya say? Us against 'Geek and Wookiee???
:dunno: ...Why? :bighug:
Apropos of nothing, I'd like to note that in this thread, Chris Stevenson established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the trolling department. :agree:
I was in the shallow end in the fastest heat between 2 muscley guys in the 50 back last time. What more do you want? I think that is where you now belong in the backstroke events!
I love the meet because it is the only meet in the known universe that doesn't start until 2:00 pm!
At larger meets, I don't see anything wrong with putting top age group seeds in the non-gutter lanes. But at small meets, there aren't enough entries in each age group for this to work. I'm often the only swimmer in my age group in my events. (I don't do many 50's...:)) In the 100 SCM breaststroke I described earlier in the thread, I would have been pleased to be in lane 6 of the fastest heat rather than lane 3 of the preceding heat.
Oh BTW here's a meet that starts even later: www.swimphone.com/.../event_order.cfm
