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Breeze · 02-19-2021, 12:43 PM

Southern Athletic Association Conference Championships - PREVIEW

Previewing this meet is going to be next to impossible - given the lack of training the Berry team has had makes predictions tough, but adding in the complexity of the impact Covid has or hasn't had on the other teams is what makes this effort mostly futile.

The order of events has been shuffled due to the subtraction of opening night and the 200 Free Relay will now be swum Saturday at the end of the morning session, and the 800 Free Relay will be swum Sunday at the end of the night session. Also the 1650 has been replaced with the 1000, which is disappointing for Bear because he would prefer to do mile swim.

*Note 1: The seeds listed below are subject to change because the final scratches have not yet been announced, and coaches over enter swimmers so they don't show their hand regarding the events the best swimmers will compete in.

*Note 2: Most seed times are likely impacted by the training restrictions caused by Covid.

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Bear

500 Yard Freestyle (5:19.65) : Seeded 16 - Bear comes into this event with seeded 16th, but the seed time is extremely slow for him. Last year in high school after breaking his foot and missing most of the season he was able to come back at the county championships and swim sub 5 minutes in this event and take 3rd overall. Given how the season has gone I don't know if he can get under 5 this time, but if he can, he'll have a chance to get into the top 8 and make the A final. The top time in the event is 4:42.51 - Bear's personal best in this event is 4:41.77, and his recent times post shoulder/lat issues were around 4:50s. Given his abilities in a normal year he would be a threat to place high here, I just hope he has a respectable showing - something in the A final or close to the A final would be pretty good under the circumstances.

400 Yard IM (4:48.38) : Seeded 11 - This one is tough to project because there are 22 people entered into this event and 9 come in with a No Time seeding. This year with so few meets available to establish a time in this event these are likely strong swimmers that just never got into this event. Bear's seed time is again an illustration of his in ability to train. The fastest time in this event is 4:19.39, Bear's personal best is 4:11.59, and his most recent times following his rehab are around 4:20. This year he's had very little opportunity to swim all 4 strokes, and I'm sure his breast and back will be sloppy. But I'd expect with adrenalin flowing he should outswim his seed time. Again, I'd love to see him get into a A final, but the key to that will probably be how strong most of the NT swimmers are.

1000 Yard Freestyle (10:52.37) : Seeded 10 - As I mentioned Bear is a bit disappointed this one isn't going to be the 1650. I know he did a few "all outs" in practice working on improving his splits for the mile, and he seemed to be relatively pleased with his progress. In this event the top time is 10:05.69, Bear's personal best is a 9:41.74. This isn't an event he swims often, as many meets don't offer this race and typically if a distance free is going to be on the docket it's the 1650 not the 1000, however, even following his rehab he's was able to get below 10 minutes. If he was able to get his training splits to an acceptable level he might be able to drop a bunch of time off his seed time, just not sure if it will be enough to get in the top 8, where normally I would fell really good about his ability to be in that spot.

200 Yard Butterfly (NT) : Seeded 18 - This is the most likely scratch out of the events Bear is entered in. First, Bear has been under the assumption he would be swimming the 500, 1000, and 400 IM. Second, he really hasn't done a 200 fly in a long time, so long I can't remember when it was, which makes him competing in this unlikely. Also the top 2 seeds in the event are Berry teammates - Ross Valdez and Noah Brand - and Bear's not beat those guys even if he was training for that event.

Relays - Unlike the ODACs when Brett competed the SAA has teams field two relays. Each team's A relay swims in the A final and each team's B relay swims in B final (and can score no higher than 9th in the event regardless of how good the time is or how many teams swam in the A heat). Each swimmer is allowed to compete in 7 events, with no more than 3 being individual. Bear is currently under the impression he'll be swimming in 4 B relays. My guess is he'll be in the 800 Free for sure, then I'm not so sure what else he'll swim. The problem is the team is very strong in sprint free and sprint fly, which makes it difficult to determine how the coach will split up the swims. Given that Bear is likely 3rd on the depth chart in sprint fly and around 8th in sprint free - it's hard to predict where he will fall when the assignments take place.

02-19-2021, 12:43 PM	#1327
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Southern Athletic Association Conference Championships - PREVIEW Previewing this meet is going to be next to impossible - given the lack of training the Berry team has had makes predictions tough, but adding in the complexity of the impact Covid has or hasn't had on the other teams is what makes this effort mostly futile. The order of events has been shuffled due to the subtraction of opening night and the 200 Free Relay will now be swum Saturday at the end of the morning session, and the 800 Free Relay will be swum Sunday at the end of the night session. Also the 1650 has been replaced with the 1000, which is disappointing for Bear because he would prefer to do mile swim. Note 1: The seeds listed below are subject to change because the final scratches have not yet been announced, and coaches over enter swimmers so they don't show their hand regarding the events the best swimmers will compete in. Note 2: Most seed times are likely impacted by the training restrictions caused by Covid. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bear *500 Yard Freestyle (5:19.65) : Seeded 16* - Bear comes into this event with seeded 16th, but the seed time is extremely slow for him. Last year in high school after breaking his foot and missing most of the season he was able to come back at the county championships and swim sub 5 minutes in this event and take 3rd overall. Given how the season has gone I don't know if he can get under 5 this time, but if he can, he'll have a chance to get into the top 8 and make the A final. The top time in the event is 4:42.51 - Bear's personal best in this event is 4:41.77, and his recent times post shoulder/lat issues were around 4:50s. Given his abilities in a normal year he would be a threat to place high here, I just hope he has a respectable showing - something in the A final or close to the A final would be pretty good under the circumstances. *400 Yard IM (4:48.38) : Seeded 11* - This one is tough to project because there are 22 people entered into this event and 9 come in with a No Time seeding. This year with so few meets available to establish a time in this event these are likely strong swimmers that just never got into this event. Bear's seed time is again an illustration of his in ability to train. The fastest time in this event is 4:19.39, Bear's personal best is 4:11.59, and his most recent times following his rehab are around 4:20. This year he's had very little opportunity to swim all 4 strokes, and I'm sure his breast and back will be sloppy. But I'd expect with adrenalin flowing he should outswim his seed time. Again, I'd love to see him get into a A final, but the key to that will probably be how strong most of the NT swimmers are. *1000 Yard Freestyle (10:52.37) : Seeded 10* - As I mentioned Bear is a bit disappointed this one isn't going to be the 1650. I know he did a few "all outs" in practice working on improving his splits for the mile, and he seemed to be relatively pleased with his progress. In this event the top time is 10:05.69, Bear's personal best is a 9:41.74. This isn't an event he swims often, as many meets don't offer this race and typically if a distance free is going to be on the docket it's the 1650 not the 1000, however, even following his rehab he's was able to get below 10 minutes. If he was able to get his training splits to an acceptable level he might be able to drop a bunch of time off his seed time, just not sure if it will be enough to get in the top 8, where normally I would fell really good about his ability to be in that spot. *200 Yard Butterfly (NT) : Seeded 18* - This is the most likely scratch out of the events Bear is entered in. First, Bear has been under the assumption he would be swimming the 500, 1000, and 400 IM. Second, he really hasn't done a 200 fly in a long time, so long I can't remember when it was, which makes him competing in this unlikely. Also the top 2 seeds in the event are Berry teammates - Ross Valdez and Noah Brand - and Bear's not beat those guys even if he was training for that event. *Relays* - Unlike the ODACs when Brett competed the SAA has teams field two relays. Each team's A relay swims in the A final and each team's B relay swims in B final (and can score no higher than 9th in the event regardless of how good the time is or how many teams swam in the A heat). Each swimmer is allowed to compete in 7 events, with no more than 3 being individual. Bear is currently under the impression he'll be swimming in 4 B relays. My guess is he'll be in the 800 Free for sure, then I'm not so sure what else he'll swim. The problem is the team is very strong in sprint free and sprint fly, which makes it difficult to determine how the coach will split up the swims. Given that Bear is likely 3rd on the depth chart in sprint fly and around 8th in sprint free - it's hard to predict where he will fall when the assignments take place. Last edited by Breeze : 02-25-2021 at 11:45 AM.