Mega Masters Weekend

[ElaineK]

Congrats to James, Elaine and That Guy!!! I don't understand how James does this back-to-back-to-back-to-back event thing ... amazing.

Thanks, Fort! And, congratulations to you on your 50 fly NR! As for James, he's just a kid . Let's check back with him when he becomes an old geezer like us and see how he's doing!

[chowmi]

2 sprinter beasts, 2 lawyers in a death duel
Who will win?
IVY vs Aggie
Will youth play a factor?
This is THE race of THE entire meet!

definitely need video & color commentary
maybe Randall the nature narrator could bring it to life
after all he did do
The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger (original narration by Randall) - YouTube

and these are 2 aquatic honey badgers having at it

JIMBO??
got your cam? tripod? perfect spot? batteries? you ready?
high speed internet for rapid youtubization?
line up 2nd, 3rd, & maybe even 4th iphone shooters to capture close ups of race prep, starts, turns, diff POVs, & warm downs
need PRE & Post race interviews

Who will prevail? We need every detail

FORT BLOG


Chow Blog

I missed this entire section - where was I??? I have not been on the forums for a few days and missed my own gridge. Literally and figuratively this year!

Well, here's the scoop from my end. I'm going to stick with the story that I didn't get the memo and joined the wrong gridge. I was duking it out with the 27 crowd! Just kidding, it was a super fun meet! I give the Colonies zone meet a super big thumbs up!!!!! I never saw Fort during the race, she was on the other side. I was with 2 other 27'ers and we were all very close. I went faster than my 27.4 at South Central zones, so time wise i was happy (27.2), but even more happy with the execution of 1/1 breathing down/back as I mentally lapsed at SC zones and took way too many breaths. It is more luck of the draw, but I hit both the turn and finish on the walls, which I did not at SC zones.

Why did I not go as fast as the last several years (26.6 to 26.9)? And in fact, I was just about .50 seconds off in all the 4 x 50 events. I chose to start P90X and am 30 days in. I worked my swimming around it, not the X around swimming. It has been a nice break! But I still love meets. I'll stille even travel for a meet even though i'm not in top form. Who cares! I don't! Here I come! The other big reason is my left shoulder was bothering me, so I completely avoided Fratenity of Flyers month (March) which is arguably why I am so strong come zone champs time (late March/April).


I simply didn't put in the fly training to have the speed and strength of prior years. But that's not a bad thing. My shoulders didn't hurt after swimming, and that was the entire reason for not doing fly in workouts! It was still really fun, I am very pleased with this time, I hope it stands for a top ten, and the SC zone swim was a big wake up call on mentally lapsing, which rarely happens but when it does - I paid particular attention to this at Colonies - it was a very well executed swim. All of my 50 times were just about .50 off my "recent best" masters times, so that is also a good sign - that it is not one stroke or event that is way "off". You can control some things, others not, the key is to know what you can and cannot control. I was hoping I could still muster a 26.99, but alas, it just wasn't there. I can't say "I coulda woulda shoulda!" because I did everything possible - I showed up, entered with an aggressive entry time to ensure center seeding and signal i'm going to race, and I executed my race strategy, plus had the luck o' the walls.

Fort had an awesome race! I only saw the video and my spidery not-yet-fully P90X'd out arms flailing in the background, but you could tell the well-oiled precision of her swim along with the strength! I can't wait to read what the naysayers are going to come up with as her handicap for this national record, tee hee!!!

[ElaineK]

The results are in:

Jaadams1 Bizarro Gridge Standings
=================================
knelson  2:03.19
jaadams1 2:04.60
tjrpatt  2:05.26
That Guy 2:07.55

Great swim, Kirk!

[That Guy]

The results are in:

Jaadams1 Bizarro Gridge Standings
=================================
knelson  2:03.19
jaadams1 2:04.60
tjrpatt  2:05.26
That Guy 2:07.55

I can't decide whether to be depressed about this or not.

[That Guy]

Oh and here's the PNA results: http://www.bluewave-aquatics.com/fck...ltswSplits.pdf

[ElaineK]

I can't decide whether to be depressed about this or not.

Awww, don't be depressed, That Guy. Try to catch 'em next time around.

[swimmieAvsFan]

Please correct me, but are YMCA rules and USMS rules
different about the order of swimming ?

I was under the impression that, in USMS, once the entry has been
turned in, neither the membership or the order could be changed.

My team once lost a national record in
the 800 Free Relay beacuse they changed the order......

I don't know about YMCA rules, but this is what the USMS rule book says:

102.9.5 First and last names of eligible relay swimmers, their ages and order of
swimming shall be submitted to the clerk of course or to the head lane
timer. Any changes in names of the competing swimmers or their order of
swimming must be declared to the head lane timer prior to the start of the
relay heat in which such relay team is entered. No changes will be permitted
thereafter.

That appears to mean that, as long as your heat hasn't started, and provided you tell the head timer in your lane, you can legally change the order of swimmers. Jayhawk or Rob, correct me if I'm reading that wrong please!

[That Guy]

Awww, don't be depressed, That Guy. Try to catch 'em next time around.

Thanks... I just need to remind myself how esoteric the gridge was (first 200 free of knelson/tjrpatt/TG 1650 free versus jaadams1's 200 fly which was done in a 200 free event)

[That Guy]

Ah, you're a dork! Thanks for the kind words. I guess that I did good by not quiting the 1650 and finishing the 1000. Now, let's see if my 500 time can be beat my 500 split of my 1650. Last year, my 500 time couldn't beat my 500 split from the 1650. > It is noon here which means it is time to hit the bars!!! I kid.

I almost forgot about this!

tjrpatt Gridge Standings
==========================
tjrpatt 500 event  5:23.57 
tjrpatt 1650 split 5:26.56 
tjrpatt 1000 split 5:30.46

Well done! What happens now? Do you take $5 from your right pocket and put it in your left pocket?

[The Fortress]

You could name four (4) all-new people, and just
hand the list to the head lane timer. They don't
have to approve, so you just go ahead and swim.

Talk about "event management...."

Are you planning to ferret out more people to castigate rather than continue with your campaign of harassment against me?

Naysayers are a downer. We are all trying to do our best, hopefully improve, or at least have fun while trying. I had a great time swimming, cheering and filming friends and forumites at CZ last weekend.

[knelson]

You could name four (4) all-new people, and just
hand the list to the head lane timer. They don't
have to approve, so you just go ahead and swim.

Talk about "event management...."

Correct, and it's great if you ask me. The reality of masters swimming is you don't always know who's going to be available to swim the relay when the relay entries are due. As long as the names and ages are correct before the heat goes off I don't see any downside. If you've ever tried to organize relays you know it's not an easy task.

[jaadams1]

The results are in:

Jaadams1 Bizarro Gridge Standings
=================================
knelson  2:03.19
jaadams1 2:04.60
tjrpatt  2:05.26
That Guy 2:07.55

I'm satisfied. To be able to beat two of the three 200 Free splits with a 200 Fly time is pretty good IMO.
Thing is...That Guy's 200 FLy also beat his own 200 Free split as well.

[Rob Copeland]

That appears to mean that, as long as your heat hasn't started, and provided you tell the head timer in your lane, you can legally change the order of swimmers. Jayhawk or Rob, correct me if I'm reading that wrong please!

Correct! In meets where you hand your relay card to the head lane timer, you must have the correct swimmers in the correct order listed on that relay card when your heat starts start.

[Chris Stevenson]

Now, if we could just get You, Chris and Wookie to clean up their posts, we would be just
about done with it……..

You're going to have to be more specific, because honestly I have no idea what you are talking about. Which posts? "Done with" what?

[That Guy]

I agree !

It would be great too, to go back to those
wonderful days of yesteryear, when you
could just arrive at the meet, do a warm
up, and decide on the spot, whether to enter the
meet, and deck-enter any event !

There were NO heat-sheets.

When you "entered" an event, they
gave you an IBM card, which served
as your entry "verification," with heat and lane
assignment and a place for the timers
to record your results.

Seeding was manual, just putting the
correct card in the right slot on the board.
(some folks "swapped" cards).

No written records of who was entered......

Some folks warmed up "in secret," and didn't appear behind
the blocks until the previous heat was just finishing !

Until the event was called to the blocks,
NOBODY knew who was going to be swimming,
not even the meet manager !

PLUS, you could "seem" to have entered an event,
and then "scratch" that event, and "deck enter"
something else.

Kept everybody guessing !

Here is a meet with deck entries allowed. It's not quite as fast and loose as what you describe above, but deck-entering still allows for a degree of gridge secrecy that is not found in most meets.

[Rob Copeland]

I still remember a meet in the 1970's...

I also remember Masters meets from the 70‘s and 80’s, where I seeded the meet on index cards and typed results on a typewriter. But for the sake of trying to keep folks in topic, this thread is ostensibly about the plethora of meets this past weekend.

[SwimStud]

I was trying to reply to a friendly post, but it disappeared
even before I could offer a reply.....That's twice today !

Sounds like the start of another streak!!!

[jaadams1]

Here is a meet with deck entries allowed. It's not quite as fast and loose as what you describe above, but deck-entering still allows for a degree of gridge secrecy that is not found in most meets.

It just costs you more to do it, and it's a semi-pain on the meet entry person trying to get them in at the last minute. But it is a good way to get some extra people in the meet in small LMSCs like ours. Our largest two meets in the past year have been 99 and 80. Our average is about 60+- 10 or so.

[evmo]

Incidentally, I try not to mention my "streak,"

Hmm.

Actually, I would prefer it if NONE of my
accomplishments were mentioned on this web site.

Hmm.

[knelson]

Incidentally, I try not to mention my "streak,"

I hollered "don't look Ethel!" but it was too late...

(I hope a few people laugh at this, because I thought it was one of my best efforts!)