[oldalum]

Ella Eastin is not only favored in the 200 and 400 IM events, she has the fastest time in the country in the 200 back, an event that she is not even swimming at nationals! I presume that Coach Meehan knows what he is doing.

Now where would you get a crazy idea like that? :)

The goal is to end the meet with more points than any other team, and there are multiple considerations Meehan has to take into account. He does not have unlimited flexibility in where to place swimmers: they have to qualify for the individual event, there is a limit to the number of events each swimmer can enter, and the days and order of events can affect scheduling. Meehan has to make a complex calculation about how to maximize the points we get as well as taking away points from our major competitors for the team title, and to do this he has to project a range where each potential swimmer is likely to place in each event. And there are probably some psychological calculations as well.

[oldalum]

Ella Eastin is not only favored in the 200 and 400 IM events, she has the fastest time in the country in the 200 back, an event that she is not even swimming at nationals! I presume that Coach Meehan knows what he is doing.

Now where would you get a crazy idea like that? :)

The goal is to end the meet with more points than any other team, and there are multiple considerations Meehan has to take into account. He does not have unlimited flexibility in where to place swimmers: they have to qualify for the individual event, there is a limit to the number of events each swimmer can enter, and the days and order of events can affect scheduling. Meehan has to make a complex calculation about how to maximize the points we get as well as taking away points from our major competitors for the team title, and to do this he has to project a range where each potential swimmer is likely to place in each event. And there are probably some psychological calculations as well.