Within a week, boys swim coaches will be submitting entries for the sectional swim meets (due by noon Tuesday to the WIAA; see page 8 of the latest WIAA Bulletin:
http://www.wiaawi.org/bulletin/2009-10/bulletin11510.pdf )
Sectional entries, of course, represent something of a guessing game -- who will be swimming what events, what events may be deeper than others, and importantly what will be the final qualifying time to get into the state meet.
This year, the question about qualifying times is particularly filled with uncertainty, as these will be the first sectional meets held since the national high school ban on the high-tech bodysuits. Qualifying times (or the "qualifying standard") dropped noticeably last year in both divisions. Nine of the 11 qualifying times in Division 1 dropped last year, a third more than in either of the previous two years. Ten of the 11 qualifying times in Div. 2 dropped last year, double the average of the previous two years. Although there are no firm numbers on how many swimmers used high-tech suits at sectional meets, reports from around the state at the 10 sectional sites suggest they were used by a number of swimmers.
What follows at the end of this post is a link to the qualifying standards from last year (2009 QS). That time is then compared in the spreadsheet format to the average qualifying standard time for the past three years (06-08 QS). The link also provides the qualifying standards for both divisions for each of those three years (2008 QS, 2007 QS, and 2006 QS). Times noted with an asterisk are events in which an automatic qualifier had a slower time than the final qualifying time.
What I found interesting in doing the comparisons:
-- Qualifying times for nearly all relays last year got faster, much more so in some cases, compared to previous years. For instance, the Div. 1 medley relay qualifying time was more than two seconds faster than any of the previous three years. The D2 400 free relay was more than 4.5 seconds faster last year than in any of the previous three years.
-- Two individual events in D1 -- the fly and breaststroke -- got noticeably faster last year compared to previous years. In D2, the 200 IM and 100 free got noticeably faster.
-- On the other hand, some events showed no real significant drop in qualifying times last year. In D1, the 200 free qualifying time was the highest in the past four years, and the 500 free and 100 back times stayed around their recent historic levels. The same held true in D2, where the 200 medley relay and 100 back times were around recent time standards.
Here's the link the qualifying time standards...
boysstatequalifyingstands06-09
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3 comments:
I've been coaching boys and girls to State for 28 years in a row. There has been many a time when the qualifying time dropped significantly in one event or another. We really didn't see great changes in the equipment. I don't recall a lot of discussion either about why the times improved. Maybe we just thought that we, the coaches, were doing a better job. I remember some coaches who thought goggles should be banned. Not everyone could afford them.
Well said. Times in general, from what I've seen in terms of long-term trends, have been dropping steadily over the years. Sure, there are still some stand-out records out there (Neil Walker's 100 back record from '94 in D2 comes to mind), but the broad range of times qualifying for the state meet has improved. And no doubt coaching plays a role in that. What was unusual last year was the advent (and now one-time use) of high-tech suits that did result in some notable qualifying time drops. Thus, the comparison of last year's times to previous years, when the suits weren't available. I'd expect to see some faster qualifying times this year, although not on the order of 19 of 22 being faster as happened in 2009.
Clearly the suits are/were a significant advantage...they made the swimmers more buoyant, and had less friction when moving through the water (scientifically provable facts)...that, plus the psychological edge, results in better times. Yes, conditioning and coaching are always improving, but technology in this sport, like all other sports, are improving performance.
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