Your best, most memorable swim/race and why.....

I have four memorable swims, all as a master's swimmer. Three involve me and one involves others. In chronological order: At the 1999 USMS LC Nationals in Minneapolis I was behind the blocks in the slow heat of the 50 BR in the men's 55-59 age group. The fast heat of the men's 60-64 age group was just going off and I watched the whole race. First, second and third places were Olympians from 1960: Tom Winters (my room mate at the meet), Jeff Farrell and Bill Mulliken. Tom won in a new national record. What an inspiration that was to me. I resolved to try to join the fast heat in the future. Back home I got myself a stroke coach, lost about 30 pounds, swam consistently and declared to anyone who would listen that I wanted to win a national championship when I turned 60 (this from a guy who was 4th out of 4 breaststrokers on his college team). At Federal Way LC Champs in 2001, I snagged first place in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Five years later, just two weeks before I turned 65 by FINA rules, I was under the national record in the 200 SCM breaststroke. So, I resolved this time to put all my effort into trying for that record. At Canadian Nationals last year I had my big chance. Alas, I wasn't even close - probably 10 seconds away. So, there are 4 really memorable races for me. Some go your way, some don't and some are just watching others do it. -- mel

I think it is good to comment on this thread because for one thing, there are many new people here who may not go back to older threads, and two, my initial thread was similar but not quite. My memorable swim was Masters 1995 LC Nationals in Oregon. The best swim of my entire life and I have done a pile of them. Lots of power, very controlled, negative split all the 50s, and swam my fastest 800 m ever. Couldn't even get out of the pool right away; nothing was left energy wise. My other couple of great swims took place in the 1960s. donna

islandsox;83457 I think it is good to comment on this thread because for one thing, there are many new people here who may not go back to older threads, and two, my initial thread was similar but not quite. My memorable swim was Masters 1995 LC Nationals in Oregon. The best swim of my entire life and I have done a pile of them. Lots of power, very controlled, negative split all the 50s, and swam my fastest 800 m ever. Couldn't even get out of the pool right away; nothing was left energy wise. My other couple of great swims took place in the 1960s. donna Details please. Relive them and pray tell it like you remember, like you felt it back then. And I'm not trying to psych you UP for your Sunday 1Mile, although a good, happy memory, really boosts the morale. Cheers

Hi Didn't meant to try and steal anyone's thunder (or hijack anyone's thread) and I'm not saying that you're implying I did. Intermission............... Just came back from "there". Read all the posts and am continuing this reply. Music............Curtains come up. Resume post................................. As you can probably see I only joined a few days ago and have not reached very far down the more than 150 threads. Donna's thread intentions is just what I meant by "ahem.........starting......'hm 'hm ......this thread". She called it Power swim, I called it memorable, because (details later) I can remember the color of the pool water that day, the feel of the water's temperature, details of strokes, body position, etc... L8R In case I haven't said it yet...Welcome to our forum 3strokes!! There are no real rules about thread formations....similar type threads crop up all the time....for example, not long ago two separate threads about Dennis Baker's swim Blog came up within days of one another....people just blissfully posted on both of them....If anyone wants to see real thread hijacking just peruse over my posting record a bit...LOL!!:rofl: Newmastersswimmer

My most memorable race would have to be the 1999 Manhattan Island Marathon Swim. First of all current assisted swims are amazing, heading up the East River at 6 to 8 MPH, passing runners on shore, flying past the United Nations building, swimming under the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg Bridges and past Yankee Stadium. Those first couple of hours went by fast The second leg, up the Harlem River, wasn’t quite as much fun. The current slows and there aren’t as many scenes of big apple history. But once we made the hard left turn at Spuyten Duyvil and headed down the Hudson River, the current picked up and sites of NY and Jersey became familiar again. There was also a noticeable increase in boat traffic (jet skis, sailing boats and ships, power boats and cruise ships). The George Washington Bridge from water level is an awesome site, as were the Empire State Building, the World Trade Center Twin Towers and the Statue of Liberty. Beyond the travelogue beauty of the swim, was that my son was with me as a member of my crew, having your kids there cheering you on is a heartwarming experience. (However from his perspective 7 hours in a slow boat around the island may not be on his list of favorite things, right up there with 11 hour in a slow boat across the English Channel). Additionally my wife, daughter and other family members was there to cheer me on at the finish. And as for the actual swim, I felt great, kept my tempo up for the entire swim and was ready for a beer at the finish. And thanks to favorable conditions my 6 hours 52 minutes still stands as the 3rd fastest race time, behind Tobie Smith and Tammy Van Wisse. (Note – there have been faster individual times just non achieved during the MIMS).

My most recent memorable race was just a few moths ago swimming the 200 free for the first time in my life. I have always been a sprinter, so besides the 200 IM that was the longest race I had ever done, so I really had no idea how to pace it or what time to expect. I was in one of the outside lanes. For the first three 50's, I stayed about at the hip of the girl next to me. It felt fast but easy. When I got to the last 50, I still had a lot of energy left, and I beat the girl next to me by almost five seconds. I ended up in 3rd out of about 10, which surprised me because I'm usually in the slower half in my 'good' events.

meldyck;83599 ..............I declared to anyone who would listen that I wanted to win a national championship when I turned 60. Five years later, just two weeks before I turned 65 by FINA rules, I was under the national record in the 200 SCM breaststroke. So, I resolved this time to put all my effort into trying for that record. At Canadian Nationals last year I had my big chance. Alas, I wasn't even close - probably 10 seconds away. This is the ironical aspect of Masters swimming: You can only be one age once (one age group five times). If one doesn't accomplish a goal in one's last year in an age group, one will never be 60-64 again (or whatever to whatever+4). The compensation is that the following year, one will then be the youngest (relatively) in the next age group and theoretically a fresh, younger whippersnapper who -theoretically- should beat the "older" geezers. (Unless some of these geezers happen to be of Geochuck or Ian Smith calibers, in which case one -i.e., me- is "toast").:(

Mine for now is the BR200 I raced at my first Masters Meet. It was the first race in 25 years; my goggles filled with water off the dive but did not come off. When I realised I could not see, I had a split second to decide whether to quit, and clamber out much to the amusement of others or just press on. I just got on with my race; aggravated that I was doing a really bad time because of misjudging the walls etc. However when I finished I'd still knocked of 7-10 seconds of of my training times. Shows what hard work in training and a bit of grit can do for you in a race situation. I just don't think this memory will fade too soon, unless I start collecting "bling"...unlikely.

My best, most memorable swim was in college. At our big championship meet (New Englands division 3B or something like that) my freshman year, I was still pretty weak with mono that had shown up with it's companion strep throat 2 months before. Somehow I made it into the finals for the 400 IM, but was really exhausted and stressing about doing a good time in the final. My coach pulled me aside and gave me the best advice anyone ever had. He basically said, look you are in the top 8, and the worst that can happen is you get 8th. No one that is in the 9-16 places can place ahead, even if they swim faster than you do. He told me to swim "pretty", make sure I didn't get disqualified, and he wasn't worried about my time. It took all the stress off my shoulders, and although I don't remember my time, it was a PB and I placed better than 8th.

Good solid coaching advice!!! Something you will always remember!