Swim happy

You chicked him! Ain't it great? Happens to me all the time! (I'm looking at YOU mcountryman & your buddy Hankins!) Y'all Georgia women are dangerous! My swim happy ... I just did a best practice time for a 1650, only 24 sec slower than my best meet time. I'll take it! Happy Saturday! Way to go, Swimosaur! Yeah, it was a great feeling to beat my coach; especially since he was the one who taught me backstroke! :D As for Marianne and Malena, whoooaaaa, those are two awesome swimmers! Marianne is faster than Malena in the pool (and happens to be several years older), but Malena is a heck of a distance swimmer, recently swimming a 10 mile open water race. She has a spot reserved for swimming the English Channel; I believe in 2014. As long as Marianne keeps improving the way she has over the last couple of years, she will OWN a spot in the Top Ten in every event she swims. :bow:

"I hate losing to a girl ..." You chicked him! Ain't it great? Happens to me all the time! (I'm looking at YOU mcountryman & your buddy Hankins!) Y'all Georgia women are dangerous! My swim happy ... I just did a best practice time for a 1650, only 24 sec slower than my best meet time. I'll take it! Happy Saturday!

It felt great to just swim. I didn't look at the clock once. 600s, 300k, 600p. I'm sure they were garbage yards by anybody's definition, but it felt great to just swim. Hey Skip, whatever makes you feel good; do it! One of my favorite swimming days is the day after a meet, where I allow myself to do whatever I want to do, however I want to do it, and, as fast (or slow) as I want to do it. Sometimes, I'm still wired up (and tapered) from the meet and I put in some fast sprint times. And, after other meets, I'm too sore and tired to do anything more than swim slowwww. But, that's the beauty of Masters Swimming! We have control over how we swim and make our own decisions; not a coach or anyone else. :applaud:

One thing and another (weather, work, insomnia, sloth) conspired to cause me miss three straight days of swimming. Thursdays the Y has a single lane open for lap swimmers after work (the rest being taken up by 10 and under novice swim team types), so I went straight there. It felt great to just swim. I didn't look at the clock once. 600s, 300k, 600p. I'm sure they were garbage yards by anybody's definition, but it felt great to just swim.

Last summer, a 65 year old gal in my community, who I didn't know, approached me and asked if I would teach her how to swim. I told her I had never taught anybody before, however, I would work with her if she wasn't afraid of the water. Gail said she wasn't afraid; she just didn't know what to do once she was in it! She asked what my fee would be and I told her I wouldn't charge anything; she could take me to lunch when we have accomplished her goal of being able to swim the length of the pool, freestyle, without stopping. Since last July, we have had 25 one hour sessions. We have laughed a lot, discovered a mutual love of jazz, shared what turned out to be similar political views, and have become friends. Oh yeah; and I have taught her how to swim! Although she still can't make it one full length of the pool without a snorkel, she can swim about 15 yards before she quits. Her backstroke is to the point where I am now teaching her to count strokes from the flags. And, we are working on getting her stroke more efficient. I may even have her convinced to join me at the Geezer Games, in Gwinnett County, on May 2, to compete in 50 backstroke and 50 freestyle (as backstroke or part free, part back). The other day, she surprised me with a $100 Visa gift card ("...use towards swim meet fund") in a handmade card with this message: "Thank you! I never dreamed I would be able to swim and breathe so well, so effortlessly, so comfortably. You're a great coach; I appreciate your selfless giving of time. And, I'm having fun! You're 1 in a million; no, one of a kind." ~ Gail This has been such a gratifying experience; definitely a "Swim Happy" for me. Here are videos of Gail's 25th lesson: www.youtube.com/watch www.youtube.com/watch

She's pretty good. Nice job coach!

Great job Elaine,but your job is not complete until she can swim breaststroke.

She's pretty good. Nice job coach! Thanks! Hey, I'm looking forward to seeing you and the Dave's in Auburn! (Oh yeah, Roger, too!) So... drinks are on you this weekend? :chug: :D :bolt: If I get some personal best times in key events; heck yeah! :banana: Great job Elaine,but your job is not complete until she can swim breaststroke. You should have seen my attempt to teach her breaststroke- and, her attempt to swim it. :afraid:I think I'll stick with the long axis strokes; a good thing, since she is 5'10". (But, I hear ya! :cheerleader:)

The other day, she surprised me with a $100 Visa gift card ("...use towards swim meet fund") in a handmade card with this message: "Thank you! I never dreamed I would be able to swim and breathe so well, so effortlessly, so comfortably. You're a great coach; I appreciate your selfless giving of time. And, I'm having fun! You're 1 in a million; no, one of a kind." ~ Gail So... drinks are on you this weekend? :chug: :D :bolt:

Bwahahaha! I have joined the Evil Empire! Where is the StormTrooper emo? :duel:GAJA... please! One day, we will get MATT, CTMS, AMS and BSLM together into a "regional" team and smack down GAJA once and for all! Also, judging from psych sheets, it looks like you & I may enjoy reprise of 2011 200 fly! :duel: Also, it looks like the plans I made with ekw to swap counter duties in the 1650 may be foiled -- she is seeded 17th and if even one person 1-16 is a no show, then she & I may wind up in the same heat. We may be begging for counters Saturday morning! I don't think it is going to happen on the 200 fly unless someone drops out (very possible). I'm the 8th seed which means I'll be trying not to get washed out of the pool by the animals in the middle lanes. You will get to battle it out with Ellen and Elaine in the second heat. Kind of the reverse of what happened in the 500 free last year. The 400 IM on the other hand is looking interesting. We probably will be across the pool from each other but I think I can go 5:15. We'll see if you can put enough distance on me in the backstroke to hold me off. If I had the guts to put 2:25 down for my 200 IM, we would be pretty close in that one too. I can count for ekw if needed. I should be in heat 1.