AMYMSA meet

Race: Masters Swim Meet
Date: January 11, 2015
Location: Grove City, PA

We had our AMYMSA Masters Swim meet today at Grove City YMCA.

I swam the 50-yard Butterfly in 32.54, which was 0.22 seconds slower than my personal best. My dive was good but my dolphin kicks getting me to the surface were weak. I am also still pausing with my arms ahead of me during each stroke, which makes it hard to maintain the proper rhythm. I took only 3 breaths during the event and did not feel at all tired at the end (does that mean I should have worked harder?). Overall, I can’t complain because my speed was still good relative to past performance, and it is fun to think about how much faster I will be when I can work out these glitches.

I swam the 25-yard Freestyle in 12.99 seconds, shaving 0.3 seconds off my previous personal best. It took me a few seconds to invent my strategy (I should do this before the race!) of kicking hard and reaching far out ahead of me to grab as much water as possible with each arm stroke.

I swam the 50-yard Backstroke in 36.32 seconds, breaking my old record by 0.22 seconds. I feel great about this race. I think my arms, legs, head, and torso were all doing what they were supposed to be doing. My only failure was at the end when I started my glide into the wall much too early and I spent (what seemed like) a full second forcing myself to the touchpad. I am confident that my swim would have been well under 36 seconds without that mistake.

The 200-yard Freestyle was the very next event. I was not tired or sore yet, but I was still winded from the 50 Back. My strategy was to conserve energy and not go too fast during the first half of the race. I usually swim my fastest at the start and then get fatigued prematurely. I found that Dan Nadler was in the lane next to me and it seemed like he was maintaining a pace about right for me. It was helpful to pretend that we were driving cars in adjacent lanes of a divided highway, and we had set our respective cruise controls to the same speed. I was content to just swim next to him until the last 50 when I planned to step on the gas pedal and beat him. It didn’t quite work that way because I think he still beat me, but that last 50 was fun because of this competition, and I had something to distract my thoughts away from physical discomfort. I paid a heavy toll when I was done. I got out of the water and immediately felt wobbly and lightheaded as I walked to my chair. I plopped down without grace and sat there for 10 minutes as I caught my breath, massaged my very heavy-feeling and painful arms, and stared into space. I had reached my physical limit. I am proud of that. I didn’t beat my personal best (I was about 2 seconds slower today), but I am content knowing I gave it everything I had.