I swam at a USA Swimming long course meet yesterday and let me just remind everyone that long course is, in fact, long. I swam the 400 free and the 100 free. The 400 went pretty well, but I didn't push it. I went exactly what I thought I should right now and split it well.
The 100 was another story. The kid next to me was out fast and I think I went a little out of my comfort zone to stay somewhere near him. I came off the 50 well, but by the 75 I was hurting bad. My legs were dead and that last 25 felt like I was going to come to a dead stop. The funny thing is my wife told me I was right with another guy a couple lanes over (I was breathing to the other side and didn't really see him) and I actually took him at the end. I thought everyone in the pool was going to pass me down the stretch. My splits were 28.76 31.14, which doesn't seem too bad, but if there could be a breakdown by 25 I bet it would look uglier! Anyway, I did break 1:00, so I'm happy! Especially since I haven't swum long course at all since last summer. Good way to start off the long course season.
Originally posted by scyfreestyler
It must be odd to swim set's of 50's and leave from both ends of the pool.
That isn't that odd. What's odd is doing 100 IMs where you have to switch strokes in the middle of the pool. Obviously they don't swim the 100 IM in competition long course, but always fun to do in practice!
Thanks. Yeah, I'm happy with how I swam. Swimming a flawed race and still recording a decent time is o.k. Much preferred to feeling like you swam great then looking at the clock and seeing a slow time.
Originally posted by MichiganHusker
Were you in Federal Way?
Yes. It's a great facility to have in the area, but even with it we're pretty short on pools around here. Virtually none of the high schools here have a pool, so high schools and clubs rely on city and county run pools for most training and competitions.
Congrats! For feeling like you goofed you actually did pretty well.
I have yet to swim in a Long Course pool but I think this summer might be the time. It must be odd to swim set's of 50's and leave from both ends of the pool.
Congrats Kirk - Good job. Yes, it is weird switching to long course. Were you in Federal Way? Hearing about your meet makes me want to go visit my mom and sister.
I think I have had my head in the sand for 25 years. When I was in high school in Nebraska in the 70s, we always had an outdoor long course pool where we practiced and a pool in my high school.
In Michigan, these pools are hard to find and not all of the high schools have a pool, let alone access to long course. A local high school in a suburb of Detroit (Waterford, MI) just unveiled its new pool and it was front page news.
My oldest niece attends East Side Catholic and they swim outside year round! Not sure how that works.
No wonder long course is so alien to most of us.
Kirk,
I grew up swimming in your area. I never felt short on pools. When I moved to Boise, I was really in shock. All of the high schools in the greater Boise area have to use the two YMCA pools. We have six high school teams that swim in the Y pool where I coach. We each get an hour time slot and four lanes. Our season is co-ed, so this means that teams typically have 10 swimmers per lane.
It's brutal, and my swimmers think I'm joking when I tell them that the pool where my high school team (Auburn) worked out was right next door to the school and we got the whole facility to ourselves from 3:00-5:00.
Originally posted by knelson
I swam at a USA Swimming long course meet yesterday and let me just remind everyone that long course is, in fact, long....
I remember my first time at long course, it was for a meet. I walked out onto the deck and thought “Oh Man! That is a long way!” :-( I felt pretty intimidated. A few of my events were accompanied by thoughts like: Where’s the wall? Is it ever gonna get here? I just had to remind myself to keep my head down and wait for the end marker, that the distance was about the same. It sure is hard sometimes however to shake that conditioned response of “x number of strokes and turn”. It can be unsettling. Old habits are hard to break.
I saw a list of swimming info nuggets on the web, one of which said:
“The fastest you will ever go is diving in, and pushing off the wall.”
I’ve pondered that statement often, especially in practice coming off the wall.
Yes--I agree, long course is LONG. Our usual pool (the rec center) is being drained/refilled, and our coach made arrangements for us to use the main competition pool, which is setup long course.
It actually felt really good to stretch out. I couldn't remember when I had last done any long course. A 600 seems to go faster when you're not turning so much.
Originally posted by aztimm
A 600 seems to go faster when you're not turning so much.
This is something I have often wondered about in long course. You don't get the extra boost from as many pushoffs but you also don't have to deal with as many turns to begin with.
We did long course again today, it was a sprint day. Even a set of 50s doesn't seem quite so bad, with no wall/turn, I think it was 8 and seemed to go by very fast.
We had 6 people in my lane for most of the set, I was 5th, and I certainly noticed the draft, I really got a good lift especially for the middle 25 of the length.
