I too liked relay day. My friend Bill and I tried to recruit two more swimmers from our ENTIRE REGION to come swim relays, but we had no luck.
Thus, we became Academy Bullet Carpetbaggers and met some of the nicest people between Beloit and Gary. It was fantastic.
We even took war brides. At least in our imaginations.
In any event, here is another aspect of relay day to add to the mix of opinions.
For many of us on-the-cusp-of-mediocrity swimmers, our major opportunity to make the Top 10 occurs in the first year or two of aging up. This was my third year in my ridiculously difficult age group (I know, everybody SAYS there's is the hardest, but really, mine is the hardest.) If I squeaked into the Top 10 in anything, it will be a total fluke. However, the relays gave me a sense of having a chance!
We were, in fact, national champions in the mixed freestyle relay for 189 or the 200 meters! Nobody will ever be able to take my 94.5 percent National Championship away from me!
There are two aspects to relays that are particularly attractive to guys like me:
It gives us the opportunity to benefit from the efforts of our betters. In the above particular case, for instance, I was able to swim with the legendary Leslie The Fortress Livingston. How I could cajole myself onto a relay with the likes of Leslie, I cannot divulge, because if anyone could do it, I am convinced everyone would do it, and my chance of repeating as a 94.5 percent National Champion would plummet. However, the bottom line here is that when it comes to relays, you don't have to be a great swimmer--you just need to shmooze great swimmers to be part of greatness.
My teammates always accuse me of leaving too early in practice sets. Except for the person leading off a relay, going close to too early is a good thing. I would argue that my best swimming event is a relay precisely because I so regularly practice leaving as quickly as I can get away with.
If relay day becomes a staple of national meets, and if I can line up the likes of Leslie for future relay efforts, I would be more likely to attend meets in the waning years of my age group dotage--years when greatness on the individual level becomes impossible, but greatness by standing on the shoulders of my superiors remains distinctly achievable.
And on this final note, please let me quickly say to my Entourage buddies, Michael "Vince" Ross, Mike "E" Schmidt, and Hodding "Turtle" Carter Jr.: Could you please send me the forms necessary for joining Maine Masters? Your older, less talented brother, Jimmy "Drama" Thornton, is looking forward to our relay at SCM this December!
I too liked relay day. My friend Bill and I tried to recruit two more swimmers from our ENTIRE REGION to come swim relays, but we had no luck.
Thus, we became Academy Bullet Carpetbaggers and met some of the nicest people between Beloit and Gary. It was fantastic.
We even took war brides. At least in our imaginations.
In any event, here is another aspect of relay day to add to the mix of opinions.
For many of us on-the-cusp-of-mediocrity swimmers, our major opportunity to make the Top 10 occurs in the first year or two of aging up. This was my third year in my ridiculously difficult age group (I know, everybody SAYS there's is the hardest, but really, mine is the hardest.) If I squeaked into the Top 10 in anything, it will be a total fluke. However, the relays gave me a sense of having a chance!
We were, in fact, national champions in the mixed freestyle relay for 189 or the 200 meters! Nobody will ever be able to take my 94.5 percent National Championship away from me!
There are two aspects to relays that are particularly attractive to guys like me:
It gives us the opportunity to benefit from the efforts of our betters. In the above particular case, for instance, I was able to swim with the legendary Leslie The Fortress Livingston. How I could cajole myself onto a relay with the likes of Leslie, I cannot divulge, because if anyone could do it, I am convinced everyone would do it, and my chance of repeating as a 94.5 percent National Champion would plummet. However, the bottom line here is that when it comes to relays, you don't have to be a great swimmer--you just need to shmooze great swimmers to be part of greatness.
My teammates always accuse me of leaving too early in practice sets. Except for the person leading off a relay, going close to too early is a good thing. I would argue that my best swimming event is a relay precisely because I so regularly practice leaving as quickly as I can get away with.
If relay day becomes a staple of national meets, and if I can line up the likes of Leslie for future relay efforts, I would be more likely to attend meets in the waning years of my age group dotage--years when greatness on the individual level becomes impossible, but greatness by standing on the shoulders of my superiors remains distinctly achievable.
And on this final note, please let me quickly say to my Entourage buddies, Michael "Vince" Ross, Mike "E" Schmidt, and Hodding "Turtle" Carter Jr.: Could you please send me the forms necessary for joining Maine Masters? Your older, less talented brother, Jimmy "Drama" Thornton, is looking forward to our relay at SCM this December!
