2011 SCY Nats in Mesa, AZ

... furnace heat/blazing sun/desert winds were not conducive to fast swims.The funny thing today (for us natives used to swimming year-round outdoors in temperatures ranging from freezing to 115) were people complaining about how cold it was this morning! I absolutely loved the meet and thought that the Mesa crew did an awesome, awesome job. I really can't think of any improvement to be made. I will say, though, that I'm looking forward to racing indoors next year. As much as I love Arizona and love training outdoors, I still far prefer racing indoors. As for the tech suits, I'll say that THEY DO MATTER and that the meet results this weekend and looking across the season as a whole 'prove' that point. With that said, I don't think their advantages are surmountable for us Masters swimmers ... almost all of us can train a little harder, a little smarter, race with better strategy, improve technique, etc.

... furnace heat/blazing sun/desert winds were not conducive to fast swims.The funny thing today (for us natives used to swimming year-round outdoors in temperatures ranging from freezing to 115) were people complaining about how cold it was this morning! I absolutely loved the meet and thought that the Mesa crew did an awesome, awesome job. I really can't think of any improvement to be made. I will say, though, that I'm looking forward to racing indoors next year. As much as I love Arizona and love training outdoors, I still far prefer racing indoors. As for the tech suits, I'll say that THEY DO MATTER and that the meet results this weekend and looking across the season as a whole 'prove' that point. With that said, I don't think their advantages are surmountable for us Masters swimmers ... almost all of us can train a little harder, a little smarter, race with better strategy, improve technique, etc.