I'm sure each of us has one race (or maybe more) that has some special :groovy: :applaud: :wave: :banana: :laugh2:
meaning to us and it could be for any one of many reasons. (I'm not talking about embarrassing moments; this has been addressed elsewhere.)
I'm talking about swims/races, some moments of which live with incredible clarity and details in our memories and minds (in colour -or B&W, with sounds and possibly smells -chlorine, of course.)
I won't tell about mine (I have three about which I'm very proud) for a while. Not until regulars have told their stories and some would-be-posters (a.k.a. lurkers) have also shared.
Parents
Former Member
Mine (for the masters era) was at the 2000 SC Nationals in Indianapolis. I was swimming the 100 free (my favorite event) and it was just one of those races when everything came together. The first 50 seemed effortless and I remember telling my self to kick it home. I felt like I swam right thru the wall at the finish and after regaining my senses felt like I had indeed left every ounce of energy in the pool. It was and still is my masters PB.
I've had a few of these over the years....but none since I was in high school or college. I've had two experiences where I felt like I swam a perfect 200 freestyle before....both times they were legs of an 800 free relay. When I was 17 or 18 I swam the lead off 200 at Junior Nationals on our 800 free relay (that ended up winning BTW!!) and I went 1:42.6 (this was in 1982 or 1983 I think). The other 200 leg of an 800 free relay was when I anchored our 800 free relay at the conference championships my senior year in college and I went 1:39 something (with a relay start of course).....Both times I felt like I was barely exerting any energy at all on the first 100 yet I still seemed to have a very long smooth stroke with a low SPL....then I simply opened up the carburator a bit on the second 100 (and intensified my kick a bit) and came close to even splitting both races....Thats one of the reasons why I said the 200 free was one of my favorite events on some other thread here recently....b/c I have fond memories of swimming that race correctly (or at least it felt correct that is...LOL!!). I never felt nearly as good while swimming a 100 free for some reason....the 100 is too close to being an all out sprint to feel the sensation I felt during those 200 free races I guess?
I have a few others....but one left a sour feeling for me b/c even though I felt good on both my 100 fly and 200 fly at conference my senior year in college, I missed my goal times...the 100 fly was hard to swallow b/c breaking the 50 second barrier was such a big deal to me...and then I came up a few tenths short of that goal....Just didn't get out fast enough ....My stroke was more adapted to the 200 fly than it was for raw speed I guess....Oh well, I'll just break 50 seconds in the 100 fly as a Master's swimmer and call it even then...right!!...LOL!:rofl: :rofl:
Newmastersswimmer
Mine (for the masters era) was at the 2000 SC Nationals in Indianapolis. I was swimming the 100 free (my favorite event) and it was just one of those races when everything came together. The first 50 seemed effortless and I remember telling my self to kick it home. I felt like I swam right thru the wall at the finish and after regaining my senses felt like I had indeed left every ounce of energy in the pool. It was and still is my masters PB.
I've had a few of these over the years....but none since I was in high school or college. I've had two experiences where I felt like I swam a perfect 200 freestyle before....both times they were legs of an 800 free relay. When I was 17 or 18 I swam the lead off 200 at Junior Nationals on our 800 free relay (that ended up winning BTW!!) and I went 1:42.6 (this was in 1982 or 1983 I think). The other 200 leg of an 800 free relay was when I anchored our 800 free relay at the conference championships my senior year in college and I went 1:39 something (with a relay start of course).....Both times I felt like I was barely exerting any energy at all on the first 100 yet I still seemed to have a very long smooth stroke with a low SPL....then I simply opened up the carburator a bit on the second 100 (and intensified my kick a bit) and came close to even splitting both races....Thats one of the reasons why I said the 200 free was one of my favorite events on some other thread here recently....b/c I have fond memories of swimming that race correctly (or at least it felt correct that is...LOL!!). I never felt nearly as good while swimming a 100 free for some reason....the 100 is too close to being an all out sprint to feel the sensation I felt during those 200 free races I guess?
I have a few others....but one left a sour feeling for me b/c even though I felt good on both my 100 fly and 200 fly at conference my senior year in college, I missed my goal times...the 100 fly was hard to swallow b/c breaking the 50 second barrier was such a big deal to me...and then I came up a few tenths short of that goal....Just didn't get out fast enough ....My stroke was more adapted to the 200 fly than it was for raw speed I guess....Oh well, I'll just break 50 seconds in the 100 fly as a Master's swimmer and call it even then...right!!...LOL!:rofl: :rofl:
Newmastersswimmer
