Master Meet Results

I've completely fallen off the exercise wagon. Spring break week for the boys is nearly over - I couldn't dedicate my time to swim/bike/run. We sure had some fun though as a good little family.

Today I walked-on to a Masters swim meet. Small town in Northeast Indiana, but a nice pool - tiled, not steel. Two State records were set today at this meet which surprised me, none in my events. I swam the 400 IM, 500 FREE, 200 IM, and 100 IM. Went 4:44, 5:40, 2:13, and 1:00 respectively - placed first in all. There was not much competition, as in I was the only person who even swam the 400 IM. That event kind of dies out at the Master's level. Not many people over 30 can do it anymore with out killing themselves.

My 500 free time was 'lost'. Usually, with a good official, they fire a gun when the lead swimmer has two laps left. My official fired his gun early, which caused my counter to present the orange square informing me that I was on my last turn, rather than presenting the number 17 (two turns left). So, all the timers approached the block and stopped the clock at the 450 yard mark. I stopped also, in order to yell out instructions that there was no way I had just swam a sub-5:00 minute 500 free and that something was amiss. The guy in the lane next to me caught up, confirmed that the official, the counter, the timers, and I, were all wrong - he did a flip turn and kept on going. So, I started again, sprinted the last 50 yards, and finished. Boy, now that's unusual. I should have stuck to my gut - I thought the gun went early - I just wasn't sure enough, and that has never happened to me before. I laughed it off with all involved, but that was a poorly run race.

Swimming is intense. It's a dual. More like drag-racing. A pure race. I always look at the person in the lane next to me prior to start. I don't thump my chest or anything, I just check them out and try to stay calm. Running, cycling and triathlon are different - everyone starts at the same time, and people that are competing are cheering on others, like we're all about to have a grand old time together. Swimming is different. It requires a competitive focus, at least for me. There are only six people racing at a time, right next to each other, side-by-side, everything gets quiet, as you have to listen closely to every sound at the start. Finally, you explode from the starting block into a rectangle of water, and begin pulling yourself through this beautiful substance that quickly begins to feel like concrete. There's no warm-up, no 'getting into it', it's zero to 100 instantly. It still makes me nervous, after all these years.