Did you meet your goals at nationals?

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

Michelina — Tue, 13 May 2008 12:21:58 GMT

It had been 15+ years since I was last at the TX Swim Center... I have to say I really didnt have any specific goals going into Nationals as this was the first one I had been to since I was an age group swimmer many moons ago. But I clocked PB's in all of my events (even the 50 fly - thanks D!). And as I looked at my times from the late 80's - early 90's... I think my 50 freestyle was an ALL TIME PB!!! And I am not a sprinter! I have to say thanks to my travel buddy, and all the wonderful people I met. Team Hottub ROCKS! Needless to say, I walked away with some new friends, and reconnected with two old ones! "I think I shaved your head" - a shout out to Dan W. Remember imspoiled... you got to MEET AP!!!! Not just see him! :-) Thanks to the whole Longhorn crew for hosting a fantastic meet! Hope to see you all in Mt. Hood.

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

ourswimmer — Fri, 09 May 2008 05:53:31 GMT

I far exceeded most of my goals: I placed in all my events except my weakest, swam within 3 seconds of my lifetime best (from 25 years ago) in the 100 back, reconnected with a few old friends, and on Sunday evening ate a large quantity of smoked brisket washed down with plenty of Shiner. I didn't meet my goal of a lifetime best in the 500 free, but I still think it's within reach. My team had a great meet too. We had enough people to put up teams in every relay, and we scored 256 points with just 10 swimmers, most in very competitive age groups. I really enjoyed the meet. Big thanks to the whole Longhorn Aquatics organization for putting it on. :applaud:

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

Former Member — Thu, 08 May 2008 08:36:32 GMT

My overall goal was to have fun and enjoy Texas. So I did! I also managed to swim better on all distances, even the ones I was not at all prepared for. So I am more than happy!

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

mctrusty — Thu, 08 May 2008 08:34:30 GMT

My overall goal was to have fun and enjoy Texas. So I did! I also managed to swim better on all distances, even the ones I was not at all prepared for. So I am more than happy! You had some awesome swims, Jan!

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

Former Member — Thu, 08 May 2008 08:08:17 GMT

You had some awesome swims, Jan! Thanks, mctrusty! Looks like you had a great meet too!

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

Former Member — Thu, 08 May 2008 07:16:38 GMT

Almost all of them, but certainly the most imprtant one: To see Aaron Peirsol!!! Really, the trip was fun, the pool was great, and I swam PBs in 5/6 swims, but my main goal was to see some Olympians (AP in particular). Thanks to Aaron showing up on day two, I would have gone home happy regardless. Thanks to the organizers for a well run meet, and to Ande for some great restaurant recommendations. Austin was a blast--next time I'm staying for the after-party!

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

swimmj — Thu, 08 May 2008 05:19:44 GMT

yes, definitely met my goals at nationals and had a great time. 1) PRed all 6 swims. 2) swam within 10% of college best times (was within 6.5%) 3) Finish within top ten in individual race 4) get a top ten time (was on a relay with some really fast chicks), so we should be top ten. 5) Hung out with my teammates and cheered for them in their races. Really enjoyed swimming at such a great facility and meeting folks. Time to work on new goals now, hope to see you all at LC nationals in Oregon. --mj

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

mctrusty — Wed, 07 May 2008 12:55:25 GMT

I met most of mine. I wanted to go under 20 minutes in the 1650, and went 18:37.96 I wanted to go 2:06 in the 200 back, I went 2:04.97 I wanted to go under 1 minute in the 100 back, and went 57.9 I didn't care much for the 50 back because I can't sprint, but just wanted to work a nice long SDK. I went 27.5, which is almost as fast as I was in college. I wanted to beat my seed in the 200 *** and did that with a 2:30.15. I secretly wanted to go under 2:30, though, so this was a half-met...

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

BillS — Wed, 07 May 2008 07:13:32 GMT

I did OK. PR'd 5 out of 5 events, usually by a very healthy margin; won my gridge with my brother and covered, by the skin of my teeth, the granny spread P. Wolf foolishly conceded me in the 50 free; just missed getting my 200 free under 2:00, down from a 2:04 just a couple months ago; rode the coattails of some very fast Oregon women to 2 relay medals; had a great time with my teammates; and got to swim in the best facility I've ever seen at the best run meet I've ever attended. I was smart enough not to gridge with my brother in anything longer than a 100; he hit the Top 10 in the 1650 in his first meet since 5th grade. Nice. I did a lousy job at meeting folks and socializing, but between having my brother there for a couple days, a bunch of Oregon folks whom I didn't know very well to get to know, and just generally being thrashed every day, I didn't get out much. I did manage to swill some free beer Sunday eve, but we had to be up and out early Monday am and called it a day fairly early. I got to see Kirk's first place 1650 from the bulkhead, which was cool, although it was a little depressing when he took out his 200 faster than I had gone up to that point. Very nice swim. All in all, a great meet. Hope to see some of you folks in Oregon this summer.

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

mctrusty — Wed, 07 May 2008 03:34:34 GMT

Wow, you knocked that one out of the park! Thanks! I sure was surprised :).

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

knelson — Wed, 07 May 2008 02:27:18 GMT

I wanted to go under 20 minutes in the 1650, and went 18:37.96 Wow, you knocked that one out of the park!

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

Former Member — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:22:11 GMT

I have to say I had a great meet overall. Masters bests in all my events, however I did leave a couple goals unattained. That's the thing about this sport, no matter what you do there's always something you could have done better! On the positive side, my 1650 free was excellent and winning my first event at Nationals was exciting! My goal in the event was under 17:30. I went 17:16, so just a hair under a 1:03 pace per 100. I split the thing absolutely consistently. I think I negative split by about two seconds. My 400 IM was also good for me at 4:28. 2:06 in the 200 fly was good and I split it pretty well. 2:07 in the 200 IM was another masters best and seeing how it was my last event of the meet it was a keeper. I placed top ten in all these events. The downside were my 200 and 500 free. Both were bests by a very slim margin, but I really expected to be faster considering how I swam in the mile. My 200 free was a 1:50.13. My previous best was 1:50.18 from 2005. I looked at the splits between the two races and every single 50 was within 0.1 second! That kind of consistency is a little crazy. I really thought I could go about a 1:48. Same deal with the 500. After swimming a 5:00.8 three weeks ago I thought I'd be around 4:55, but instead I just missed going under the 5:00 barrier (again) with a 5:00.36. In fact, the final 50 in my 500 was slower than the final 50 in my 1650. If I just could have come home as well. Also, I finished third and the winner was 4:58 (Erik Hochstein decided to go for a 200 split otherwise he would have won easily), so I feel like I could have won my second event with a good swim. Oh well, lots of "could haves" in swimming. In retrospect I may have bitten off a little more than I could chew. I swam the maximum possible yardage at the meet and swam three relays. That was probably too much and I was hurting by the end of the meet. I might have to reconsider my event selection next time. Sorry for the long-winded post. I've got a lot on my mind after this meet! Kirk, you won the mile(!) so way to go. Anyhow, not being a miler myself I feel a little unqualified to make this statement, but nonetheless, I think having the mile be your first race is quite a disadvantage. 17 hard minutes of swimming takes alot out of anyone. So it really is true that you would ahve been a lot faster in any of your races had the mile not been on Thursday...

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

Former Member — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:02:21 GMT

Achieved a goal I set for myself five years ago when I joined USMS--placing at short course Nationals (1000 free) Set Masters PBs in the 200 and 500 (but missed my goal times of sub 2:00 and sub 5:30) Met Paul Smith and his lovely wife Laura (herself a national champion now) Saw some great swims by several forumites (Fort's 100 back and IM, Paul's 200, 500 and 1000 free, and Kirk Nelson, Frank Thompson, Mark Mattson, and Jim Clemmons in the 500).

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

poolraat — Tue, 06 May 2008 12:54:26 GMT

It was an awesome meet. Very well run. Kudos to those who hosted. This was my 2nd Nationals and I hoped only to improve on my times, particularly my 50 and 100 back, since my focus since January has been backstroke. I had 3 LIFETIME personal bests out of the 5 events I swam: 50 free I dropped 0.15s 50 back I dropped 1.82s 100 back I dropped 3.71s BTW I got a 10th place (M55-59)in the 50 back. As I have been swimming for only 8 years I was ecstatic!

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

knelson — Tue, 06 May 2008 12:36:02 GMT

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

jeffkuykendall — Tue, 06 May 2008 11:56:10 GMT

I met almost all of my goals in Austin. 1) Get a Medal: yep, got two, 1000 free and 200 back 2) Improve all my times from last year: made that, with the exception of getting the exact same time as last year in the 50 free (23.98, at least I got under 24) 3) Swim some relays: Yes, thanks to the generous Oregon swimmers who took me in for the week, and Bill V who swam a relay so the other three of us could swim once more, thanks Bill. 4) Go to every bar in Austin: Not met, but I did give it the old college try:whiteflag: 5) Watch some really fast swims: Met for sure, watching the Smiths, Josh Davis, Michael Ross and others was very inspiring and lots of fun. So, with the exception of number 4, it was a highly successful meet!

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

FlyQueen — Tue, 06 May 2008 11:40:44 GMT

I was really happy with my free swims. This season I totally surpassed my goals in 3 of my 4 events (50 free, 100 free and 50 fly). After spending a day thinking of taking a long break from the 100 fly I have decided to work on what needs fixing and do it at LCM Nats provided I go. (My swimming threats never last long) GREAT, GREAT, AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL Meet. LOVED meeting everyone and watching all the swims.

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

Former Member — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:15:46 GMT

Met all of my goals and then some: 1) Beat my seed times (and since they were my times from last year's Nationals, I was really happy with that). 2) Beat SOMEBODY (i.e., don't come in last in anything--I know somebody has to, but I didn't want it to be me). 3) Sneak in a medal. Thanks to an inspirational speech from Errol Graham ("You girls swim your a**es off!") my medley relay got 8th! Also had a lot of fun, ate at some neat restaurants, met some nice new people, and reconnected with lots of old friends. It was a fantastic meet! Haha #2 is usually my goal at any meet!

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

MegSmath — Tue, 06 May 2008 02:04:20 GMT

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

Former Member — Mon, 05 May 2008 14:30:51 GMT

Jazz said it best: this was so much fun it will keep me inspired for a long, long time. As for the swimming, I did post 3 of 3 PB, but I wanted more. Just goes to show we are often our own harshest critics.

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

Former Member — Mon, 05 May 2008 14:02:45 GMT

Yes, I did reach my goals. And I swam, too. Thanks for asking! :bouncing:

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

Former Member — Mon, 05 May 2008 13:32:39 GMT

didn't make any of mine. my main goals were to beat the older, larger Smith at everything but I couldn't even do it in the 1000 where he rolled over on his back and did a whale imitation while warming down after setting the record in the first 100. oh well, there's always next year...

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

pwolf66 — Mon, 05 May 2008 11:12:36 GMT

I hit most of my goals at Nats. I really had 2 sets of goals so the first was what I expected and the second was what I hoped for. 50 Fly - Expected 25.99, hoped for 25.5. Would have gone that but my breakout off the start was very poor. Went 26.03. 50 Free - Expected 23.20, hoped for 22.xx, swam 23.63 - this one was a puzzling disappointment as I don't know what went wrong. 100 IM - Expected 1:00.99, hoped for 59.99 - went 1:00.68 and I feel good that I will go faster as I'm still working on my back and ***. 100 Back - Expected 1:03 low, hoped for mid 1:02, went 1:02.77 and I can go faster as my stroke is still not very good. 50 Back - Expected 29.00, hoped for 28.50, went 28.06 and if I had nailed my finish would have gone under 28. This was my high water mark for the meet. I looked up at the board and didn't believe the time. I was on cloud 9. 100 Free - Expected sub 52, hoped for 51 low, went 52.85 - swam this race horribly, maybe it was the last event of the last day, maybe I was just too tired but my freestyle events in this meet were a disappointment but the other 4 events MORE than made up for it. Paul 2009 LCM Nationals in Indy - I'm coming for you.

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

Former Member — Mon, 05 May 2008 08:43:44 GMT

NOOOOO! I didn't get to go due to a bout of frozen shoulder and an injured back. Maybe next year? I got a whole bunch of reasons why I didn't go...don't get me started! lol

RE: Did you meet your goals at nationals?

Donna — Mon, 05 May 2008 08:41:51 GMT

The only goal I made was breaking 28 in the 50 Free while leading off the relay with a 27.83. All but one swim were best times so I can't complain but I did not make my planned goals which were quite lofty. This trip must still be considered a success since any PB's are all you can ask for. :cheerleader: