LOB - looking at the times for the dual meet against Missouri - we looked exceptionally slow. I know it is mid-season and good times are rare. But MU killed us.

We are horrible in distance events. A junior on my son's high school team swam a 4:46 500 last week in a means-nothing dual meet. Our three guys that swam the 1000 could not possibly have swum that race seriously since they were slower than many of the women and didn't split better than 1:00.

From what I understand, the men do not consider the fall season important at all and consider it nothing more than training time for championship season. The men have been getting beaten by Missouri handily every October but stilll manage to beat the Tigers at Big 12 (usually very easily) every year.

The Aggies also placed 13th at NCAA's last year while Missouri failed to qualify even one single swimmer for the national meet...that should tell you where the two programs' priorities are.

Spice - which scenario would you rather see:
A. the Ags train through the fall without resting, swim like crap, get killed by a rested missouri squad (based off their times and previous knowledge, I was not at the meet so I can only assume they were rested at least a little), and then come to conference if february, beat missouri, qualify a bunch of guys to NCAAs, and go on to score in the top 10.

or

B. Break the consistency of their fall training to rest a tad for the first meet of the year, so they don't get crushed by mizzou, and then when february comes, they swim only slightly faster than they did in october, may or may not beat mizzou, and may or may not qualify for or score at NCAAs.

Not sure about anyone else, but I personally would prefer to see them kick @$$ at the end of the year, even if it means sacrificing swimming fast in the fall, and losing dual meets.

So this kid who goes 4:46 in season, what kind of training is he doing exactly? Cuz I can guarantee its nothing compared to what a division I collegiate program (aka A&M) does. In the water, in the weight room, drylands, etc. Those Ags will be going well under 4:30 at the end of the season, so who cares how slow they swim in OCTOBER. The whole point of dual meets is to practice racing, not to see how fast you can go. That would be what the end of the season is for.

BigPapa - I understand this actually. But the times at MU were worse than usual. I wouldn't rest for a dual meet either. But our men are so far off their season best times - compare to our women.

As for the 500 free - only one Ag went under 4:30 last year. I know the Aggie "style" is sprints - but why bother swimming the 1000 if we're gonna go 10:07.

As for the high school kid - I know his training well and it is probably 75% of a Div 1 program. And he is one of those kids who has good speed all the time. He doesn't taper that well. But as a sophomore last year he won 4A state in the 200 with a 1:42.50. He swam a 4:35 in prelims of the 500. He swam the 500 poorly in finals.

Spicewood...re: the guys that swam the 1000...the top two Aggies were basically racing for the first time since the 06-07 season -- one of whom is coming off a serious injury...I don't know what the deal is with the third one...they are obviously not going to be future NCAA champions but, that said, they will be markedly better when the coaches want them to be fast...recent history dictates that

Excellent points LOB. And as was said previously, the point of swimming, even if it is extremely slow, is to RACE! Getting up and racing is something that a swimmer can't get from the daily grind of practice. Its a completely differnt atmosphere at a dual meet, and everyone takes advantage of every opportunity they have, no matter how well prepared they are, or how slow they swim.

I signed on just to see what kind words Spicewood would have for the guys after a long weekend.

What, exactly, over the past 4 years has lead you to believe we can take away anything from the October meets on A&M's schedule?

There's a reason why Missouri was beating A&M AND Texas repeatedly at this meet. Although it might take you a while to figure it out... maybe even until March.

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compare to our women

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really? youre really going to try and compare men and women in the beginning/middle of the season!?!? how can you possible think that is a valid comparison? The differences in body composition between males and females makes it IMPOSSIBLE to compare ANYTHING in season between the two. Not only because of these physical differences, but because of the fact that historically the A&M Women have been faster early, just like the men have the history of being much slower at the beginning.

depth is the issue...the guys will be swift next year (jan - march)