Race:
Date:
September 15, 2019
Location:
Edinboro University
The start of swim season! I've been concentrating on my running, plus work has been busy, plus I had a cut on my finger (squirrel bite), so I haven't been swimming much. That's pretty much what everyone else at Masters said, so I fit right in. No pressure today.
100-yard freestyle: I didn't beat my seed time, but was close. My turns were not explosive at all; my legs are tired from a 12-mile run yesterday.
25-yard backstroke: It took almost the whole length to get my legs up and finally get into a good rhythm. I feel like I might be kicking too hard at first, causing some kind of drag on my legs.
50-yard freestyle: I beat my seed time by almost a second, coming in at 29.18 seconds. This is not bad at all for the start of the season. It felt good; I concentrated on NOT fishtailing the whole way and took limited breaths.
25-yard butterfly: Felt good, but not fast at all!
Overall, a good time. I have just recently signed up for Ironman Lake Placid (July 2020) so I'm going to take my swimming more seriously this year. And my biking. And my running. And my protein intake. And my lifting. And my blogging! It's going to be my last full-length triathlon so I want to get the most out of it. We'll talk soon.
Showing posts with label 25 fly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 25 fly. Show all posts
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Sunday, December 4, 2016
AMYMSA Sewickly
Race: Masters swim meet
Date: December 4, 2016
Location: Sewickly, Pa
100 breaststroke: This felt like a strong and fast swim but I finished 3.63 seconds slower than my personal best. That's a lot of time for a 100-yard race. I am puzzled. My only explanation is that my warmup swim of 300 yards was more than an hour before and I wasn't "warm" anymore.
50-free: I finished in 29.21 seconds, which is 0.83 seconds slower than my personal best. This would be a mediocre result if I hadn't slipped on the starting block at the start. Because I didn't have a good start, I know I could have finished with a faster time, coming much closer to my personal best if not setting a new one.
25-yard butterfly: I signed up for this event just for fun but after my disappointing 100-breaststroke earlier in the meet, I wanted to do this one well. Nope! I finished in 14.96, which is 1.22 seconds slower than my personal best. That's terrible for a 25-yard event! **But in 2015-16 season my best time was 14.98, so at least I am better than last year.
500-free: I finished in 7:08.78, which was 4.42 seconds slower than my personal best. I had a really solid first 300 yards, beating or staying with my nearest competitor two lanes away. Shannan says I was on pace to finish around 6:50. But my last 200 was slower. I think I could have beat my time but I didn't have the motivation.
Date: December 4, 2016
Location: Sewickly, Pa
100 breaststroke: This felt like a strong and fast swim but I finished 3.63 seconds slower than my personal best. That's a lot of time for a 100-yard race. I am puzzled. My only explanation is that my warmup swim of 300 yards was more than an hour before and I wasn't "warm" anymore.
50-free: I finished in 29.21 seconds, which is 0.83 seconds slower than my personal best. This would be a mediocre result if I hadn't slipped on the starting block at the start. Because I didn't have a good start, I know I could have finished with a faster time, coming much closer to my personal best if not setting a new one.
25-yard butterfly: I signed up for this event just for fun but after my disappointing 100-breaststroke earlier in the meet, I wanted to do this one well. Nope! I finished in 14.96, which is 1.22 seconds slower than my personal best. That's terrible for a 25-yard event! **But in 2015-16 season my best time was 14.98, so at least I am better than last year.
500-free: I finished in 7:08.78, which was 4.42 seconds slower than my personal best. I had a really solid first 300 yards, beating or staying with my nearest competitor two lanes away. Shannan says I was on pace to finish around 6:50. But my last 200 was slower. I think I could have beat my time but I didn't have the motivation.
Sunday, October 16, 2016
AMYMSA Edinboro
Race: Masters swim meet
Date: October 16, 2016
Location: Edinboro, PA
500 free: swam in 7:15.73. This was about 11 seconds off my fastest time, and I'm ok with that. It's a good start to my swim season and I feel I can lower that to an even 7:00 with practice.
25 fly: I swam this in 18.66 seconds, which is ridiculously slow. I messed up on the dive, which really matters on a short swim like this. I laughed it off.
50 free: My time was 29.65, a little more than a second off my best time. Again, this is an ok time for me given it is the start of the season. I can brush up on my dive and turn and get this down to my fastest time in a few months. Today I had a breathing plan, too, but I forgot to execute it during the swim. I took 0 breaths in the first length and then 4 in the second. If I even this out, I can maybe swim faster during the second length.
100 breast: I swam this in 1:23.58, which was about 5 seconds slower than my personal best. The swim felt good except for my pull-outs at each wall. I don't usually have a bad turn so it just wasn't in the cards today. A faster swimmer complimented my stroke, so I am pleased. There were 25 people who did this event and only 4 of them were faster than me.
Date: October 16, 2016
Location: Edinboro, PA
500 free: swam in 7:15.73. This was about 11 seconds off my fastest time, and I'm ok with that. It's a good start to my swim season and I feel I can lower that to an even 7:00 with practice.
25 fly: I swam this in 18.66 seconds, which is ridiculously slow. I messed up on the dive, which really matters on a short swim like this. I laughed it off.
50 free: My time was 29.65, a little more than a second off my best time. Again, this is an ok time for me given it is the start of the season. I can brush up on my dive and turn and get this down to my fastest time in a few months. Today I had a breathing plan, too, but I forgot to execute it during the swim. I took 0 breaths in the first length and then 4 in the second. If I even this out, I can maybe swim faster during the second length.
100 breast: I swam this in 1:23.58, which was about 5 seconds slower than my personal best. The swim felt good except for my pull-outs at each wall. I don't usually have a bad turn so it just wasn't in the cards today. A faster swimmer complimented my stroke, so I am pleased. There were 25 people who did this event and only 4 of them were faster than me.
Sunday, November 22, 2015
AMYMSA meet
Race: Masters swim meet
Date: November 22, 2015
Location: Greensburg, PA
Results: http:
Maybe I get too dramatic in writing these race reports, but the drama is truly going on in my heart and mind. Today I had a mountain to climb: the 200-yard butterfly. I've done it only once before, and it was at least a couple years ago. I decided to do it again this season to challenge myself. You see, I have been floundering in the water all summer and fall. I haven't been swimming as much as I want, but honestly, the source of this has been a lack of motivation rather than a lack of time. I went to dramatic measures to fix the problem, by forcing myself to do the 200-fly. This was more of a mental feat than a physical one. In practices leading up to today, I just couldn't catch my breath and stopped short of the 200-yard goal...every time. I have been dreaming for the last two weeks of delaying the 200-fly to a later meet, and that almost happened by accident. I left my swim bag at home and had to drive back to get it. I was almost relieved that I might have to miss my first event, but I alas, I got back to the Y with plenty of time to spare. The only harm done was I had no time for a warm-up swim. So now the actual event...
200-Fly: I finished in 3:19.57, lowering my personal best by 11 seconds. I had trouble believing it. But the swim really did go well. I was relaxed and having fun for the first 50 yards. I tried to go slow so I would still have energy for the end, but my split reveals a fairly quick 40.08 seconds. I always go too fast at the start. My second 50 yards surprised me because I didn't feel out of breath at the end. My split time was 45.68. I wasn't panicking like I had done in practice, but paused at the wall for a couple seconds anyway, just to regroup. The difference was that I was taking a breath with every stroke. I try not to so this (instead, I try to breath every two strokes), but I had just watched my friend Daniel Pruzinsky in the heat before, and he was breathing every stroke, so I though "hey, if it's good enough for him..." The consequence of breathing so frequently is that the legs don't generate a good kick, and at yard 160 or so, I felt my legs flutter around a bit. This would have disqualified me, but I fixed the problem rather quickly and the official didn't notice or didn't care. I paused at the wall at the 175-yard mark. It seemed like maybe 4 or 5 seconds. But I had just 25 yards to go, and my friends were there rooting for me, so I pushed off and tried to finish strong. My arms were finally tired but I felt so GOOD finishing this event!
Shannan Jones-Kellam asked me what my next event was and I said "it doesn't matter." Indeed, the 200-fly was the event that defined this meet, and I was so happy that (1) I finished, (2) I set a personal best, and (3) it was OVER. I looked at my entry cards and saw the rest of the meet would be easy--just 50- and 25-yard events.
50-yard freestyle: I finished in 29.39 seconds. This is 0.67 seconds slower than my personal best...not very good. When I got out of the pool, Jim F. said I could improve by doing two things. I said "I know the first thing you'll tell me is that my underwater segment after the dive was too deep and too long." He agreed. The second thing he noticed was that my arm strokes were too short--I didn't bring my hands back to my hips before taking them out of the water. I am sure this was true. I was doing a shoulder-driven freestyle (not hip-driven) my coach taught me, but maybe I have forgotten the proper technique for that. Lengthening one's stroke is never bad advice.
50-yard breaststroke: I finished in 39.19 seconds. This is 1.85 seconds slower than my personal best. Whoa, that's bad, but who cares! I had a good dive and pull-out. I think I was going quite fast during the first half, but then at the wall I did a strange turn. I touched the wall with both hands, then immediately let go of the wall, twisted around, and punched the wall with my feet to go in the opposite direction. It was the fastest breaststroke turn I've ever done, and for the rest of the race I was distracted by it. Did I touch the wall with my hands or just my feet (which would have been illegal)? I couldn't remember. I must have really slowed down as I thought about that.
25-yard butterfly: I finished in 14.98 seconds, which was 1.24 seconds slower than my personal best. I was trying to go fast, but just didn't have it in me. I still didn't care. I was still glowing with the success of my 200-fly.
Date: November 22, 2015
Location: Greensburg, PA
Results: http:
Maybe I get too dramatic in writing these race reports, but the drama is truly going on in my heart and mind. Today I had a mountain to climb: the 200-yard butterfly. I've done it only once before, and it was at least a couple years ago. I decided to do it again this season to challenge myself. You see, I have been floundering in the water all summer and fall. I haven't been swimming as much as I want, but honestly, the source of this has been a lack of motivation rather than a lack of time. I went to dramatic measures to fix the problem, by forcing myself to do the 200-fly. This was more of a mental feat than a physical one. In practices leading up to today, I just couldn't catch my breath and stopped short of the 200-yard goal...every time. I have been dreaming for the last two weeks of delaying the 200-fly to a later meet, and that almost happened by accident. I left my swim bag at home and had to drive back to get it. I was almost relieved that I might have to miss my first event, but I alas, I got back to the Y with plenty of time to spare. The only harm done was I had no time for a warm-up swim. So now the actual event...
200-Fly: I finished in 3:19.57, lowering my personal best by 11 seconds. I had trouble believing it. But the swim really did go well. I was relaxed and having fun for the first 50 yards. I tried to go slow so I would still have energy for the end, but my split reveals a fairly quick 40.08 seconds. I always go too fast at the start. My second 50 yards surprised me because I didn't feel out of breath at the end. My split time was 45.68. I wasn't panicking like I had done in practice, but paused at the wall for a couple seconds anyway, just to regroup. The difference was that I was taking a breath with every stroke. I try not to so this (instead, I try to breath every two strokes), but I had just watched my friend Daniel Pruzinsky in the heat before, and he was breathing every stroke, so I though "hey, if it's good enough for him..." The consequence of breathing so frequently is that the legs don't generate a good kick, and at yard 160 or so, I felt my legs flutter around a bit. This would have disqualified me, but I fixed the problem rather quickly and the official didn't notice or didn't care. I paused at the wall at the 175-yard mark. It seemed like maybe 4 or 5 seconds. But I had just 25 yards to go, and my friends were there rooting for me, so I pushed off and tried to finish strong. My arms were finally tired but I felt so GOOD finishing this event!
Shannan Jones-Kellam asked me what my next event was and I said "it doesn't matter." Indeed, the 200-fly was the event that defined this meet, and I was so happy that (1) I finished, (2) I set a personal best, and (3) it was OVER. I looked at my entry cards and saw the rest of the meet would be easy--just 50- and 25-yard events.
50-yard freestyle: I finished in 29.39 seconds. This is 0.67 seconds slower than my personal best...not very good. When I got out of the pool, Jim F. said I could improve by doing two things. I said "I know the first thing you'll tell me is that my underwater segment after the dive was too deep and too long." He agreed. The second thing he noticed was that my arm strokes were too short--I didn't bring my hands back to my hips before taking them out of the water. I am sure this was true. I was doing a shoulder-driven freestyle (not hip-driven) my coach taught me, but maybe I have forgotten the proper technique for that. Lengthening one's stroke is never bad advice.
50-yard breaststroke: I finished in 39.19 seconds. This is 1.85 seconds slower than my personal best. Whoa, that's bad, but who cares! I had a good dive and pull-out. I think I was going quite fast during the first half, but then at the wall I did a strange turn. I touched the wall with both hands, then immediately let go of the wall, twisted around, and punched the wall with my feet to go in the opposite direction. It was the fastest breaststroke turn I've ever done, and for the rest of the race I was distracted by it. Did I touch the wall with my hands or just my feet (which would have been illegal)? I couldn't remember. I must have really slowed down as I thought about that.
25-yard butterfly: I finished in 14.98 seconds, which was 1.24 seconds slower than my personal best. I was trying to go fast, but just didn't have it in me. I still didn't care. I was still glowing with the success of my 200-fly.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
AMYMSA Swim Meet
Race:
AMYMSA swim meet
Date: 05 January 2014
Location: Grove City, Pa.
I had a very satisfying swim meet. It was not only fun but also featured some successful swims.
My first event was the 100-yard freestyle. I swam it in 1:06.60, which narrowly missed my lifetime best of 1:06.48. I loved this swim. I swam the first 40 yards without taking a breath and used the shoulder-driven style to keep up my speed. I gradually converted to a hip-driven style by the last 25 yards, and by this time my arms were fatigued so I just kicked hard and did the best I could with arms that could no longer pull water.
My second event was the 50-yard freestyle. I swam it in 28.98 seconds, beating my previous best of 29.30 seconds. I know I can swim this faster, too, since I paused a moment in the water just before my turn. I am really happy to have broken 29 seconds, and today's swim result means I have to reassess my mid-season goal for this event; previously, I had set a goal of 29.20 seconds on 1/19/2014. I have now beat that, two weeks ahead of schedule.
My third event was 50-yard breaststroke. I swam it in 38.51. This was more than a second slower than my personal best and I'm not sure why. I had long pull-outs underwater at my dive and at the wall, and I felt my stroke was well coordinated. Maybe my head was too vertical, though. Shannan thought I slowed down toward the end, and I think I remember that being true for a few strokes, but as I saw people in the adjacent lanes move ahead of me, I consciously pushed faster to try to beat them. So whatever happened was not due to lack of will. I think maybe I was just enjoying the swim too much. I expected a near-record time, so I lost my panic.
My fourth event was the 25-yard butterfly. My time was 14.13 seconds, which is well off my personal best of 13.29 seconds. Despite being quite slow today, I love this event because it is really easy for me. I don't tire out, and in fact, I don't even breathe during the swim. However, given the short distance, the dive is important and I feel that I was late. Shannan thought I stumbled on my first stroke, too.
Date: 05 January 2014
Location: Grove City, Pa.
I had a very satisfying swim meet. It was not only fun but also featured some successful swims.
My first event was the 100-yard freestyle. I swam it in 1:06.60, which narrowly missed my lifetime best of 1:06.48. I loved this swim. I swam the first 40 yards without taking a breath and used the shoulder-driven style to keep up my speed. I gradually converted to a hip-driven style by the last 25 yards, and by this time my arms were fatigued so I just kicked hard and did the best I could with arms that could no longer pull water.
My second event was the 50-yard freestyle. I swam it in 28.98 seconds, beating my previous best of 29.30 seconds. I know I can swim this faster, too, since I paused a moment in the water just before my turn. I am really happy to have broken 29 seconds, and today's swim result means I have to reassess my mid-season goal for this event; previously, I had set a goal of 29.20 seconds on 1/19/2014. I have now beat that, two weeks ahead of schedule.
My third event was 50-yard breaststroke. I swam it in 38.51. This was more than a second slower than my personal best and I'm not sure why. I had long pull-outs underwater at my dive and at the wall, and I felt my stroke was well coordinated. Maybe my head was too vertical, though. Shannan thought I slowed down toward the end, and I think I remember that being true for a few strokes, but as I saw people in the adjacent lanes move ahead of me, I consciously pushed faster to try to beat them. So whatever happened was not due to lack of will. I think maybe I was just enjoying the swim too much. I expected a near-record time, so I lost my panic.
My fourth event was the 25-yard butterfly. My time was 14.13 seconds, which is well off my personal best of 13.29 seconds. Despite being quite slow today, I love this event because it is really easy for me. I don't tire out, and in fact, I don't even breathe during the swim. However, given the short distance, the dive is important and I feel that I was late. Shannan thought I stumbled on my first stroke, too.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
AMYMSA Swim Meet
Race:
AMYMSA Masters Swim Meet
Date: 3 November 2013
Location: Clearfield, Pa.
I had a great time, and I am so happy that this is true of almost all my meets. I swam the 500-yard Freestyle in 7:09.82, which broke my old record of 7:28.09. Interesting pattern in the numbers there, you see it? I also set a personal best in the 25-yard Butterfly, which I swam in 14.58 seconds (an improvement of 1.2%). Then I swam the 200-yard Backstroke in 3:08.00, which was just 0.09 seconds off my personal best. Lastly, I swam the 100-yard Freestyle in 1:09.13, which was about 2.5 seconds slower than my best time. I don't know what went "wrong" with this last swim, but it doesn't matter. I am satisfied with something under 1:10, especially given a well below-average amount of swim training the past month.
Date: 3 November 2013
Location: Clearfield, Pa.
I had a great time, and I am so happy that this is true of almost all my meets. I swam the 500-yard Freestyle in 7:09.82, which broke my old record of 7:28.09. Interesting pattern in the numbers there, you see it? I also set a personal best in the 25-yard Butterfly, which I swam in 14.58 seconds (an improvement of 1.2%). Then I swam the 200-yard Backstroke in 3:08.00, which was just 0.09 seconds off my personal best. Lastly, I swam the 100-yard Freestyle in 1:09.13, which was about 2.5 seconds slower than my best time. I don't know what went "wrong" with this last swim, but it doesn't matter. I am satisfied with something under 1:10, especially given a well below-average amount of swim training the past month.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
AMYMSA Swim Meet
Race:
AMYMSA Swim Meet
Date: 15 Sept 2013
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
This was my first AMYMSA masters swim meet of the season. I started with a 400 warmup. It felt good, so why push it? No stress.
Event #1: 100 freestyle
Finished in 1:07.37, about 1 second off my personal best. This is great, since it is the first swim meet and with the triathlon season just finishing, I haven't been training for short races. Dive was great, first turn was perfect. Then my turns got progressively worse. I felt sick with lactic acid for several minutes after this race, so I know I worked hard. My stroke felt really wild; my body was not rigid as it should be, so there is a lot of drag I can reduce and wasted energy I can recoup with improved form and less panic.
Event #2: 50 free
Finished in 29.53, which is a personal best. I knew this was going to be a fast swim when I was in the water. It felt perfect.
Event #3: 50 breast
Finished in 37.34 seconds which beat my old personal best by 1.28 seconds. That's a big improvement, and it was probably due to my dive and underwater glide. My coach and I practiced that a couple days ago. I put it to good use and didn't surface until well past the 15-yard line. Otherwise, my stroke felt rushed and inefficient. I was fast (for me), but there is a lot of improvement I could still make.
Event #4: 25 fly
Completed in 13.74 seconds, which was 0.98 seconds faster than my previous personal best. I smashed it. My dive was great, I did some strong dolphin kicks to get to the surface, and then I sped up my stroke cadence. In the past I have paused a bit with my arms outstretched ahead of me but I have been working this summer to get rid of the pause.
Date: 15 Sept 2013
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
This was my first AMYMSA masters swim meet of the season. I started with a 400 warmup. It felt good, so why push it? No stress.
Event #1: 100 freestyle
Finished in 1:07.37, about 1 second off my personal best. This is great, since it is the first swim meet and with the triathlon season just finishing, I haven't been training for short races. Dive was great, first turn was perfect. Then my turns got progressively worse. I felt sick with lactic acid for several minutes after this race, so I know I worked hard. My stroke felt really wild; my body was not rigid as it should be, so there is a lot of drag I can reduce and wasted energy I can recoup with improved form and less panic.
Event #2: 50 free
Finished in 29.53, which is a personal best. I knew this was going to be a fast swim when I was in the water. It felt perfect.
Event #3: 50 breast
Finished in 37.34 seconds which beat my old personal best by 1.28 seconds. That's a big improvement, and it was probably due to my dive and underwater glide. My coach and I practiced that a couple days ago. I put it to good use and didn't surface until well past the 15-yard line. Otherwise, my stroke felt rushed and inefficient. I was fast (for me), but there is a lot of improvement I could still make.
Event #4: 25 fly
Completed in 13.74 seconds, which was 0.98 seconds faster than my previous personal best. I smashed it. My dive was great, I did some strong dolphin kicks to get to the surface, and then I sped up my stroke cadence. In the past I have paused a bit with my arms outstretched ahead of me but I have been working this summer to get rid of the pause.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
AMYMSA Swim Meet
Race:
Masters Swim Meet (scy)
Date: February 3, 2013
Location: Franklin, Pa.
I am elated to have done two events today that I had never done before: 200 butterfly and 200 backstroke. Let me set the plot. Frankin, Pa. is 2 hours from home and I figured I would be antsy the entire drive. But I wasn't. At the pool I swam a 500-yard warmup prior to the start of the meet. It felt easy and fast. I got out of the lane pool and spent time in the separate warmup pool to keep warm, all the while I was talking with someone from another team. Still not nervous. Then I realized they had opened up a sprint lane and I wanted to do a practice dive. It was perfect. My first event, the 200-yard butterfly would be in about 15 minutes. I ate a package of fruit snacks and drank some water. This was not because I was nervous; rather, I hadn't eaten anything in a couple hours and I wanted a little boost of sugar for the impending great feat of swimming that I thought might just kill me. Yes, now I was nervous. But I was only kidding about the dying part. I knew I wouldn't die. I just wanted to make a good effort on this swim without having mini-disasters like goggle failure or muscle cramps spoil my initial attempt at this incredibly grueling goal. The 200-yard butterfly is viewed as the toughest event in Master's swimming (though plenty of people do it).
Event #1: 200-yard Butterfly
Time: 3:30.42
Age Group Rank: 2 out of 2
The first 100 yards was soooo easy. I can't believe it! My spilt times show I
completed the first 50 yards in 41.19 seconds and the second 50 yards in 47.88
seconds. Maybe I found this easy because I really can swim these shorter
distances harder. My 50-fly and 100-fly swims are indeed faster than the pace I
was putting forth, but of course that is part of the strategy to go a little
slower so you can last longer. My third 50 yards took 57.43 seconds to complete,
and my fourth 50-yard segment took 1:03.92. Obviously, I was unable to maintain
the pace I had started with, and by that last 50 yards I had terrible form and
was struggling to bring my arms out of the water. But I didn't care one bit. I
did the 200-fly. I finished, and I didn't have to hang on to the wall at any
point. I didn't swallow water, my goggles worked great, and no muscle cramps.
All my teammates were cheering me on and it felt good (Dan deserves special
mention because he swam this event simply to keep me on pace and support
me).
Event #2: 200-yard backstroke
Time: 3:07.91
Age Group Rank: 3 out of 3
This event was fairly late in the meet, so I had plenty of time to recover from the fly. My backstroke start was poor (but I don't practice it, so no surprise), but my stroke was strong and efficient. It felt leisurely, in fact. I was holding down my stroke rate to conserve energy and this seems to have worked well. My split times were much more equal: 44.86, 46.57, 51.10, and 45.38. I definitely sped up on that last 50 yards because Kim was in the lane next to me. Kim and I had spoken briefly before the race and we talked about how I would beat her, but not by a lot. Therefore, I was quite challenged to see that she was keeping up with me for the whole swim. I did not want her to beat me, so I sped up as fast as I could on the last 25 yards. I actually thought I beat her by half a body length, but I must not have punched the wall as well as she did. She beat me by a third of a second. She was pleased and grateful that I had provided a challenge to beat--in a way similar to what Dan had done for me on the 200-fly. It always ends well, doesn't it? I beat my seed time by 15 seconds, so i am happy with this swim. However, I need much more experience with the timing of my turns. Sometimes I turned too soon and sometimes too late. In fact there was one turn where I flipped over long before I was at the wall, so I immediately flipped back on my back to take another stroke. That would have disqualified me if any official was watching. Please don't tell!
Event #3: 25-yard butterfly
Time: 14.76 seconds
Age Group Rank: 2 out of 2
Why not more butterfly? I had a great dive and dolphin kicked for quite a distance. My dolphin kick needs work, but today it seemed to get me to where I wanted to go. I then did butterfly strokes as fast and strong as I could and I felt I was doing my best work. My time was 0.05 seconds faster than my personal best. Despite it breaking a record for me, I thought I was going to break that record by a greater amount. Next time I am sure I will!
To sum, I had a great, great meet. Friendships there are part of it, and my performances are the other part. Happy.
Date: February 3, 2013
Location: Franklin, Pa.
I am elated to have done two events today that I had never done before: 200 butterfly and 200 backstroke. Let me set the plot. Frankin, Pa. is 2 hours from home and I figured I would be antsy the entire drive. But I wasn't. At the pool I swam a 500-yard warmup prior to the start of the meet. It felt easy and fast. I got out of the lane pool and spent time in the separate warmup pool to keep warm, all the while I was talking with someone from another team. Still not nervous. Then I realized they had opened up a sprint lane and I wanted to do a practice dive. It was perfect. My first event, the 200-yard butterfly would be in about 15 minutes. I ate a package of fruit snacks and drank some water. This was not because I was nervous; rather, I hadn't eaten anything in a couple hours and I wanted a little boost of sugar for the impending great feat of swimming that I thought might just kill me. Yes, now I was nervous. But I was only kidding about the dying part. I knew I wouldn't die. I just wanted to make a good effort on this swim without having mini-disasters like goggle failure or muscle cramps spoil my initial attempt at this incredibly grueling goal. The 200-yard butterfly is viewed as the toughest event in Master's swimming (though plenty of people do it).
Event #1: 200-yard Butterfly
Time: 3:30.42
Age Group Rank: 2 out of 2
 |
| My dive at the start of the 200 butterfly looks good but I lift my left leg up, causing me to plunge too steeply into the water. |
 |
| My water entry started out well but doesn't look so good now. |
Event #2: 200-yard backstroke
Time: 3:07.91
Age Group Rank: 3 out of 3
This event was fairly late in the meet, so I had plenty of time to recover from the fly. My backstroke start was poor (but I don't practice it, so no surprise), but my stroke was strong and efficient. It felt leisurely, in fact. I was holding down my stroke rate to conserve energy and this seems to have worked well. My split times were much more equal: 44.86, 46.57, 51.10, and 45.38. I definitely sped up on that last 50 yards because Kim was in the lane next to me. Kim and I had spoken briefly before the race and we talked about how I would beat her, but not by a lot. Therefore, I was quite challenged to see that she was keeping up with me for the whole swim. I did not want her to beat me, so I sped up as fast as I could on the last 25 yards. I actually thought I beat her by half a body length, but I must not have punched the wall as well as she did. She beat me by a third of a second. She was pleased and grateful that I had provided a challenge to beat--in a way similar to what Dan had done for me on the 200-fly. It always ends well, doesn't it? I beat my seed time by 15 seconds, so i am happy with this swim. However, I need much more experience with the timing of my turns. Sometimes I turned too soon and sometimes too late. In fact there was one turn where I flipped over long before I was at the wall, so I immediately flipped back on my back to take another stroke. That would have disqualified me if any official was watching. Please don't tell!
Event #3: 25-yard butterfly
Time: 14.76 seconds
Age Group Rank: 2 out of 2
Why not more butterfly? I had a great dive and dolphin kicked for quite a distance. My dolphin kick needs work, but today it seemed to get me to where I wanted to go. I then did butterfly strokes as fast and strong as I could and I felt I was doing my best work. My time was 0.05 seconds faster than my personal best. Despite it breaking a record for me, I thought I was going to break that record by a greater amount. Next time I am sure I will!
To sum, I had a great, great meet. Friendships there are part of it, and my performances are the other part. Happy.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
AMYMSA Swim Meet
Race:
Masters swim meet (scy)
Date: October 7, 2012
Location: Edinboro, Pa
Second meet of the season is in the books, and I set three more personal records! After a 700-yard warmup, I did four events:
Event #1: 100-yard freestyle.
Time: 1:09.44
Age Group Rank: 2 out of 2
My personal best set last year was 1:09.28. I did not beat that time, but I was close: 1:09.44. The actual records submitted to the Masters organization read 1:06.85, but I believe that is an error. The timing strips were set up wrong for the first few events of the meet and the 1:06 time was someone else's time. The person who got my 1:09.44 time might not know that he actually got 1:06.85. Fortunately, it made no difference in the age-group rankings for either him or me. Apart from that issue, this swim of mine was OK but not stellar. I know I could have done better. I had three turns and none of them were close enough to the wall to provide much thrust. Had I done my turns better, my time would have been 1-2 seconds faster. Oh, and a fellow team member pointed out that I didn't attack the wall at the end; I coasted in and got out-touched by my nearest competitors.
Event #2: 50-yard freestyle.
Time: 29.66
Age Group Rank: 3 out of 3
My goal was to break 30 seconds, and I did! I was smiling for a good 30 min after this race was done, because I did it in 29.66 seconds. My old time was 30.4 seconds. In a race so short, this 0.74-second improvement is considerable. I had a great turn at the far wall to make up for the lousy ones in my last race.
Event #3: 50-yard breaststroke.
Time: 38.62
Age Group Rank: 2 out of 2
I have gone a year without improving my breaststroke times. But now I finally made progress. I swam this in 38.62 seconds, breaking my old record of 39.40. Again, a 0.78-second improvement is quite meaningful. I had a good dive, pull-out, and turn at the wall. I can't say that I was thinking about any other of my coach's pointers during the race; for example, I am pretty sure my head was up too high.
Event #4: 25-yard butterfly.
Time: 14.81
Age Group Rank: 1 out of 1
These short events are just pure fun and no one takes them very seriously because they are so short. In fact, I don't even breathe during a race like this. Anyway, because I did set another personal best, I'll make a big deal out of it. I swam this in 14.81 seconds, improving from my old record of 15.60. I may have shaved off some time due to a rather extended underwater series of dolphin kicks at the end of my dive.
Date: October 7, 2012
Location: Edinboro, Pa
Second meet of the season is in the books, and I set three more personal records! After a 700-yard warmup, I did four events:
Event #1: 100-yard freestyle.
Time: 1:09.44
Age Group Rank: 2 out of 2
My personal best set last year was 1:09.28. I did not beat that time, but I was close: 1:09.44. The actual records submitted to the Masters organization read 1:06.85, but I believe that is an error. The timing strips were set up wrong for the first few events of the meet and the 1:06 time was someone else's time. The person who got my 1:09.44 time might not know that he actually got 1:06.85. Fortunately, it made no difference in the age-group rankings for either him or me. Apart from that issue, this swim of mine was OK but not stellar. I know I could have done better. I had three turns and none of them were close enough to the wall to provide much thrust. Had I done my turns better, my time would have been 1-2 seconds faster. Oh, and a fellow team member pointed out that I didn't attack the wall at the end; I coasted in and got out-touched by my nearest competitors.
Event #2: 50-yard freestyle.
Time: 29.66
Age Group Rank: 3 out of 3
My goal was to break 30 seconds, and I did! I was smiling for a good 30 min after this race was done, because I did it in 29.66 seconds. My old time was 30.4 seconds. In a race so short, this 0.74-second improvement is considerable. I had a great turn at the far wall to make up for the lousy ones in my last race.
Event #3: 50-yard breaststroke.
Time: 38.62
Age Group Rank: 2 out of 2
I have gone a year without improving my breaststroke times. But now I finally made progress. I swam this in 38.62 seconds, breaking my old record of 39.40. Again, a 0.78-second improvement is quite meaningful. I had a good dive, pull-out, and turn at the wall. I can't say that I was thinking about any other of my coach's pointers during the race; for example, I am pretty sure my head was up too high.
Event #4: 25-yard butterfly.
Time: 14.81
Age Group Rank: 1 out of 1
These short events are just pure fun and no one takes them very seriously because they are so short. In fact, I don't even breathe during a race like this. Anyway, because I did set another personal best, I'll make a big deal out of it. I swam this in 14.81 seconds, improving from my old record of 15.60. I may have shaved off some time due to a rather extended underwater series of dolphin kicks at the end of my dive.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
AMYMSA Swim Meet
Race:
Masters Swim Meet (scy)
Date: January 8, 2012
Location: Grove City, PA
Event #1: 100-yard freestyle
Time: 1:09.28
Age Group Rank: 4 out of 4
Event #2: 50-yard freestyle
Time: 30.57 seconds
Age Group Rank: 4 out of 4
Event #3: 50-yard breaststroke
Time: 40.50 seconds
Age Group Rank: 3 out of 3
Event #4: 25-yard butterfly
Time: 15.55
Age Group Rank: 2 out of 2
I did a 450-yard warm-up then waited for my first event: 100-yard freestyle. I kicked butt. My second event was 50-yard freestyle and I again beat my personal best. And you know what? I could have gone faster. My third event was 50-yard breaststroke and I messed up to the point that I should have been disqualified but apparently the official didn't notice or care. Upon diving, I got a bit of water in one of my goggle's eye sockets and this distracted me enough that my first stroke in the water was butterfly instead of breaststroke. It took me a while then to figure out how to start breaststroke from a butterfly position but I made it work. I did breaststroke for the rest of the race but I didn't push myself. I wasn't even winded at the end. My teammates were laughing really hard when I got out of the water. Glad to be the source of some humor!
My last event was 25-yard butterfly and I beat my seed time by 0.2 seconds. It's hard to improve by much with such a short distance. It's all in the dive. All in all, a great day of competition.
Date: January 8, 2012
Location: Grove City, PA
Event #1: 100-yard freestyle
Time: 1:09.28
Age Group Rank: 4 out of 4
Event #2: 50-yard freestyle
Time: 30.57 seconds
Age Group Rank: 4 out of 4
Event #3: 50-yard breaststroke
Time: 40.50 seconds
Age Group Rank: 3 out of 3
Event #4: 25-yard butterfly
Time: 15.55
Age Group Rank: 2 out of 2
I did a 450-yard warm-up then waited for my first event: 100-yard freestyle. I kicked butt. My second event was 50-yard freestyle and I again beat my personal best. And you know what? I could have gone faster. My third event was 50-yard breaststroke and I messed up to the point that I should have been disqualified but apparently the official didn't notice or care. Upon diving, I got a bit of water in one of my goggle's eye sockets and this distracted me enough that my first stroke in the water was butterfly instead of breaststroke. It took me a while then to figure out how to start breaststroke from a butterfly position but I made it work. I did breaststroke for the rest of the race but I didn't push myself. I wasn't even winded at the end. My teammates were laughing really hard when I got out of the water. Glad to be the source of some humor!
My last event was 25-yard butterfly and I beat my seed time by 0.2 seconds. It's hard to improve by much with such a short distance. It's all in the dive. All in all, a great day of competition.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
AMYMSA Swim Meet
Race:
Masters Swim Meet (scy)
Date: November 20, 2011
Location: Greensburg, PA
Event #1: 100-yard freestyle
Time: 1:09.57
Age Group Rank: 3 out of 3
Event #2: 100-yard breaststroke
Time: 1:27.68
Age Group Rank: 3 out of 3
Event #3: 25-yard butterfly
Time: 15.94 seconds
Age Group Rank: 4 out of 4
Event #4: 500-yard freestyle
Time: 7:49.63
Age Group Rank: 3 out of 3
The meet was in Greensburg, not too far from me. I did a 400-yard warm-up. Then I competed in the following four events:
(1) 100-yard freestyle. I swam this in 1:09.57 which is just half a second off my personal best.
(2) 100-yard breaststroke. I swam this in 1:27.68, which is good I guess, but I have not swam in this event before, so I have nothing to compare it to. A swimmer I admire took me aside and said "Your stroke is awesome, but your turns are horrible." He showed me how to push off the wall and delay the first stroke until you are past the backstroke flags. I actually knew of this technique before but it seems awkward and I don't do it. But he's right; if I did the turn right, I could cut 5 seconds off my time.
(3) 25-yard butterfly. I did this in 15.94 seconds which was a big surprise in a bad way. I had a seemingly perfect dive and I felt strong and fast. But this time was off my personal best by 0.13 seconds. Now that is not a lot, so it isn't a big deal.
(4) 500-yard freestyle. I have never swam in this event before, but I exceeded my goal by a lot. I submitted a seed time of 8:30 but swam it in 7:49.63. People told me this was a fast time for someone who just learned to swim three years ago. I beamed in this praise. I don't do any of ths for the praise of others, but it feels good when you get it :)
Date: November 20, 2011
Location: Greensburg, PA
Event #1: 100-yard freestyle
Time: 1:09.57
Age Group Rank: 3 out of 3
Event #2: 100-yard breaststroke
Time: 1:27.68
Age Group Rank: 3 out of 3
Event #3: 25-yard butterfly
Time: 15.94 seconds
Age Group Rank: 4 out of 4
Event #4: 500-yard freestyle
Time: 7:49.63
Age Group Rank: 3 out of 3
The meet was in Greensburg, not too far from me. I did a 400-yard warm-up. Then I competed in the following four events:
(1) 100-yard freestyle. I swam this in 1:09.57 which is just half a second off my personal best.
(2) 100-yard breaststroke. I swam this in 1:27.68, which is good I guess, but I have not swam in this event before, so I have nothing to compare it to. A swimmer I admire took me aside and said "Your stroke is awesome, but your turns are horrible." He showed me how to push off the wall and delay the first stroke until you are past the backstroke flags. I actually knew of this technique before but it seems awkward and I don't do it. But he's right; if I did the turn right, I could cut 5 seconds off my time.
(3) 25-yard butterfly. I did this in 15.94 seconds which was a big surprise in a bad way. I had a seemingly perfect dive and I felt strong and fast. But this time was off my personal best by 0.13 seconds. Now that is not a lot, so it isn't a big deal.
(4) 500-yard freestyle. I have never swam in this event before, but I exceeded my goal by a lot. I submitted a seed time of 8:30 but swam it in 7:49.63. People told me this was a fast time for someone who just learned to swim three years ago. I beamed in this praise. I don't do any of ths for the praise of others, but it feels good when you get it :)
Sunday, February 20, 2011
AMYMSA Swim Meet
Race: Masters Swim Meet (scy)
Date: February 20, 2011
Location: Cranberry Township, PA
Event #1: 100-yard Freestyle
Time: 1:12.55
Age Group Rank: 4 out of 4
Event #2: 50-yard Breaststroke
Time: 39.79 seconds
Age Group Rank: 5 out of 5
Event #3: 25-yard Butterfly
Time: 16.90 seconds
Age Group Rank: 1 out of 1
Date: February 20, 2011
Location: Cranberry Township, PA
Event #1: 100-yard Freestyle
Time: 1:12.55
Age Group Rank: 4 out of 4
Event #2: 50-yard Breaststroke
Time: 39.79 seconds
Age Group Rank: 5 out of 5
Event #3: 25-yard Butterfly
Time: 16.90 seconds
Age Group Rank: 1 out of 1
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