1)Bob got his revenge,barely,in the 50 BR,but I had my best time in 5 yr-30.35
2)how in the world did I get 3rd in the 200 BR swimming butterfrog-if you want to see this unbelievable occurrence it is heat 4 on floswim
3) in further answer to Jim about suits,I noticed that the one group not primarily wearing the most advanced suits were the young women(18-24&25-29).Almost all of them were in regular lycra suits.
You missed Bill Specht (sorry I didn't change the name, but the man IS a hall-of-fame swimmer :bow:), who is a great butterflyer and won the event, but could barely get his arms out at the end:
1 Specht, William 2:02.71
26.43 56.24 (29.81)
1:26.88 (30.64) 2:02.71 (35.83)
Bill was a couple heats before me and I watched him finish...we are roughly the same speed, and it always really gives me pause to see someone dying badly when I am about to swim this event.
Bill is an absolute animal...I've had the pleasure of knowing him for years. He trains just like he races...all or nothing with no fear what-so-ever of the "vertical" realm of this particular stroke/event!
...I noticed that the one group not primarily wearing the most advanced suits were the young women(18-24&25-29).Almost all of them were in regular lycra suits.
I know a lot of swimmers this age cannot afford this. A lot of "pups" on our team borrowed B70s from older swimmers. Some of our 20-somethings just got married, are working on masters' degrees, etc. Lots of reasons for not purchasing. I shudder to think what some of them would have done WITH the suit, b/c they were REALLY fast without it.
I watched several very exciting heats of the men's 500. The fastest heat of men 45-49 was a good race, with six men at 5:05 or under including our host Fresnoid. They all looked smooth and strong, but the guy who won was especially remarkable because he kept up a furious kick the entire way to finish in 4:46. Then the top heat of men 40-44 was outstanding, with three finishing under 4:43. The top 10 in 40-44 were all under 5:00.
Several forum regulars medaled in today's open water mile, too. The conditions were fabulous--almost too nice. Perfect temps in the water and out, and no chop or current, so you barely even had to sight. I was really glad I stayed for it, because I would so much rather swim a mile in a lake than in a 25Y pool!
That one guy was a full lap ahead of the rest of us. But check the splits to see who went from 5th to 3rd in the last 50.:D
It was still horrible. Before the meet i was hoping for close to 2:05. Just before this race, I was so tired I remarked to Kirk that I was just hoping to break 2:15. At least I met my modified goal!!
I bet another recovery beverage (beer) would have made all the difference in the world. :cool:
I'm just getting home having gone up to Yosemite with my wife after the meet. Wow, what a great time! Saw lots of familiar faces, some new ones, swam great and took in some absolutely breathtaking beauty in the National Parks. When I get a chance I'll have to post to my blog about it.
I have fun at every Nationals, but I really think this was the best one yet. I commend everyone who made this meet a success. It really ran like clockwork. I would attend a meet at Clovis North again in a heartbeat!
edit: I just got a chance to see my split in the last really on Sunday:
3 PNA 'A' 1:37.65 1:36.47
1) Dahl, Lisa W48 2) Coulter, Tamara W32
3) Nelson, Kirk M38 4) Valley, Eric M47
25.12 50.41 (25.29)
1:13.08 (22.67) 1:36.47 (23.39)
I can sprint! I can sprint! Sorry, I just don't think I've ever split under 23.0 before. I probably false started :)
Also, it was great to see Jazz Hands have a great 500 free and awesome relay split on Sunday. He seemed pretty depressed with his first couple days, but he sure ended with a bang.
Outside of my teammates at the time, Bill was one of the first masters swimmers I ever met, more than 20 years ago. He's a great guy and an awesome swimmer.
One thing about racing Bill is you NEVER needed to think about strategy...go out with him and hang on if you can, if he dies and you're still around so be it...for that race!
But there was some piano precipitation down there in Clovis. This is just a sampling, with names changed to protect the wounded. It hurts just reading some of these!
I saw one of these swims because he was in David Kays' heat. The Steinway actually hit this poor guy on the final 25. It was absolutely brutal.
I actually saw one guy finish the race freestyle (or crawl, if you prefer)!
I think if you're going to enter the 200 fly you should probably consider first whether you can actually finish the race legally :)
