We had our championship meet this past weekend, and I had to swim against people I have been racing all season in the 200 free. I normally win the race every time. One person blew me out of the water by 4 seconds this weekend, getting a personal best time (she actually shaved 7 seconds off her time), while I did my normal time.
I am just getting very down on myself, as my times have been pretty consistent all season (dropping some time some meets, and/or doing my normal times), and we had a few kids who really made huge time drops at this meet, and wondering why I didn't. I never miss practice, and I do every set as the coach directs us to do.
We didn't even start our taper until yesterday. If the kids that put out these huge time drops are kids that have been missing practices the last several weeks, don't always do the whole sets or make the times the coach is asking us do to on the sets, is it possible they may already have tapered some?
I will have to swim these kids again in two weeks, and I am really hoping I see the time drops that they have already seen.
It's possible they had an earlier taper or it's possible that you have hit a plateau that lasts a bit longer than the others you are swimming against. A seven second improvement is massive in swimming and if you are young, it may be a matter of growth, rest, taper, or all the above. As you said above, you are dropping time some meets and not others. I was always the one behind the rest dropping times when I was young, but usually caught up. I never blew anyone out of the water because of it, but you can bet I got my chance to beat them in a few races when my times came down. Hang in there.
It's possible they had an earlier taper or it's possible that you have hit a plateau that lasts a bit longer than the others you are swimming against. A seven second improvement is massive in swimming and if you are young, it may be a matter of growth, rest, taper, or all the above. As you said above, you are dropping time some meets and not others. I was always the one behind the rest dropping times when I was young, but usually caught up. I never blew anyone out of the water because of it, but you can bet I got my chance to beat them in a few races when my times came down. Hang in there.
