Quote:
Originally Posted by thealmighty
Does it mean anything for a high school relay to get a state cut. I would think the swimmers would be swimming on club teams at the state meet.
Or is the high school state meet based on time qualifications and not on winning or qualifying at a regional meet of district/area winners (which it is in Texas)?
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Hey TA,
Good questions...especially due to the fact different states handle swimming differently. In Georgia, the entire high school season is independent of the year round season. The kids making the state meet compete against the same kids they swim against in the year round state meet, but this time they are earning points for their high school.
As for qualifying for relays. Each high school has to earn the right to swim relays by having a team meet the high school cut time, just like an individual event. The interesting thing with relays (as I understand it anyway) is, obviously only 4 kids can swim on a relay, but you can have multiple combinations of swimmers meet the cut time. Each kid must be on one of the relay teams that qualify to be eligible to swim the relay at the state meet. With 3 relays and kids only being allowed to swim in 2, then at least 8 kids will swim relays.
As for how this impacts my kids...it is very likely Bear swims on at least 1 relay at State. There are a few older kids that will be the main relay power - Cooper, Jack, Harrison, and his buddy Riley - after that you could argue Bear is the 5th or 6th best swimmer and he should certainly be in the top 8. Bailey on the other hand will have a problem getting on a relay. She's likely to be one of the two alternates. There are just too many girls that are slightly better than her who will get the nod. Her best bet is the fly leg on the medley relay, but she's probably 3rd best and about 1 second off of getting on the relay (and with no taper she probably isn't going to leapfrog that other swimmer).