Eek!!

PS - Good LUCK!

Originally posted by knelson There will probably be two referees at the meet. They probably won't be too strict, but will DQ you if you do something obviously wrong. Don't worry about that. You'll still be able to see what your time was and then next time you'll know what you did wrong and you can correct it. Well, the only time I've ever been DQed, I wasn't told what my time was. In fact, I didn't even find out that I'd been DQed until the race results were posted on the wall about 20 minutes later, and then I had to seek out the ref to find out why.

The Bellevue Club pool has a nice digital scoreboard, though, so you can check your time as soon as you're finished with the event. Remember back in the old days when they had the manual displays behind each lane? The timers would go back and "dial in" you time. I don't see many of those anymore!

The meet is a week from today!! I am a ball on nerves at this point! I'm still really excited but now I'm starting to worry about pointless little things. How do you relax before a meet? Anything that anyone can offer would be uber helpful!! Thanks soo much!! ~Kyra

Kyra, A couple of thoughts: 1) You will probably feel a whole range of emotions the next week: excitement, abject terror, anticipation, butterflyes the size of bats, etc. etc. Enjoy the highs and realize they will not last. Try not to dwell on the lows; experience them and let them pass through your system. In the greater scheme of things, neither the highs or the lows a week out matter. The issue is not whether you are ready to swim today, Wednesday, or the evening before the meet. What matters is whether you are ready to swim when they call you to the blocks. The only hint you will get is, maybe, the last 30 minutes of warmup the day of the meet. Even then, you will still probably have bat-sized butterflyes. Trust me, they are gone within the first 10 yards of the race. Just try to relax, realize you will probably be nervous, but that it is normal, and remind yourself you are doing this to have fun. 2) Because this is your first meet, you are just now starting to learn what helps you do your best, what does not help, what parts of competition you like, and what you don't like. You're going to have great swims, lousy swims, and everything in between. It's all a learning experience, so try to savor the good parts, chalk up the rest as valuable insights, and move on. The scary thing, and the cool thing, about racing is that to do your best, you have to confront who you really are under pressure. There is no posing; there is no talking a good game; the stopwatch does not care. Whatever makes you go fast, no matter how embarassing your dirty little secret is (mine is the Miami Sound Machine to psych up), you have to find out what that is and accept it. That's both cool and scary. Good luck, and please keep us informed how you do. We are all learning from the conversation that YOU have the courage to get started. Matt

good luck with your meet. I'm sure you will do great! The most important thing for you at this meet is to have fun. You asked about the back 2 *** turn on an IM and got some good answers, but I thought I'd throw in my $.02. Doing the back -> *** turn is kind of tricky. I have 2 major problems with this turn. 1. I'm really deep into oxygen debt by this time so my legs are generally starting to numb and my stomach is starting to cramp and 2. I'm really only good at it if I touch with my right arm so I have to adjust my swim/glide into the wall appropriately. What I do is glide (hopefully not too far) into the wall with my right arm fully extended, and with my body rotated to my right side (but still legal). I "stiff-arm" the wall of the pool and then all my forward momentum pushes my legs/body to the wall as I curl up my feet to reduce the size of the pendulum. I keep my left arm extended, and when my feet touch the wall I swing my right arm over, drop underwater and push off the wall. It works okay, and I typically gain some time on my competitors on the turn, but I wouldn't say what I do is the "best" or fastest way to do the turn. I also want to agree with the comments about the atmosphere of a masters meet. Its really not a cut-throat competitive environment. People are friendly, swim their races and generally either say "nice swim" or ask "how was your swim." If you are happy with your race others are too. I had a guy who lapped me in a 200 IM ask how my swim went. I said I hit my goal time and he genuinely said "excellent swim, keep it up!" I've yet to see anyone with any "attitude" at a masters meet. The variety of swimmers is also very cool. No one will look down on you because they are faster than you. Just go, swim and enjoy the experience!

I've been swimming competitively for over 10 years now (high school, college, and masters), and if I'm not nervous during the meet, then I know something is not right. I think being nervous does you good (as long as you're not getting sick from it). As a result of being nervous, I tend to sip a lot continuously out of my water bottle, which makes me have to go to the bathroom every 20 min. or so. It sounds like a hassle, but it's become routine for me after all this time. I get the most nervous when I'm standing behind the blocks before my event, but as soon as I stand up on them the nerves disappear and is replaced by confidence and determination. Best of luck in your meet Kyra, and have fun!

Hey Kyra, good luck at the meet next week! I have a meet at Uniontown (PA) that same day. And I'll confess, after swimming competitively since I was 9, I have yet to find a way to really relax before a swim meet. The morning of the meet, I'm antsy, almost bouncy, wanting to go, impatient, fidgety, all kinds of things that are fueled by nerves. However, I've discovered that once you're there, there is one point where you actually relax. It's warmups. Once you get in the water, nothing matters. If you can get in the pool and warm up, do a few length sprints, do your events uber slow, then do them again faster, or do whatever you want, really, then I've discovered that you'll completely forget everything you're nervous about. Of course, those nerves come back a couple heats before your own, and when you step up on the block (or the side), you might feel like your heart's going to come right out of your chest. Happens to me, actually. Nerves like a jittery cat. Of course, it vanishes as soon as I hit the water. So if you're asking for some advice on calming your nerves, I really only have one thing that works: the pool. Being in the water will make it better, even if you're a mental wreck outside. Also, Matt's right; whatever you have to do to calm your nerves outside the water - books, rock music (mine's Something Corporate and Alter Bridge) - do it. It won't take away the nerves behind the starting block, but you won't throw up on anybody :D Let me know how it goes! Steph

i've got to totally agree with steph- lots of loud rock/alternative music- the stuff my mom calls my "angry music". think along the lines of static-x, disturbed, eminem... the first thing that gets packed in my meet bag is my discman and cds. i've been doing this at every meet before every race since i was about 13. and it showed in my last meet- my batteries died right before my first event and i didn't have extras! :eek: i had decent swims, but i was a total nervous wreck before every event. and i agree with jennifer- if i'm not at least a bit nervous before my races, there's something not right... the music helps keep the nerves under control, but they're definitely still there! and kyra, best of luck at your meet!!

Hey Matt and Steph! Thank you soo much for the words of encouragement! I'm definately taking these ideas to heart. The more I think about it, the more I think I just gotta swim...all the time!! I will definately let you know how I do, and any ways I find to relax. :D ~Kyra