'New York Times' Blog 'Freakonomics' intrigue by the dark arts of setting up a Masters 400 IM relay!

Dan Hamermesh, a professor of economics at the University of Texas in Austin submits a post in the Freaknomics Blog at the New York Times regarding masters swimming. He seems befuddled or amazed how masters swimmers can game a 400 IM relay with age group mixes and individual times based on age.

I can't quote very much of the post since I would reveal the heart of the article which could be a copyright problem; (I am not sure). Instead, here is one sentence where he notes some complexity:

"... The programming problem becomes even more complex because each swimmer’s time slows at a different rate in different events. ..."

[Link]

Above are SCAQ members Dan and Chris who swim in two different age groups but swim numerous IM relays together.