In April 2018, I swam Short Course Zones. I had been doing a fair bit of swimming, and I managed to hit my goal of going under a minute in the 100 free! It was an ugly, ugly 100 free but I was still able to hang on and beat my goal.
My Results
- 50 free: 29.98
- 100 free: 59.86
- 50 fly: 28.87
Some Thoughts
That was the first time I’ve gone under a minute since high school. I was a diver in college, so it was rather difficult to do. I’ve only swam in a few U.S. Masters Swimming meets, but I was right at my best times as an adult. Although I inhaled half the pool on my 100, I’m very pleased with my performance.
Something I Learned
I should have signed up for more events. I saw one of the events only had 2 people in my age group, so I could have just floated my way to a third place medal. That’s the secret to getting some easy awards in Masters Swimming. Look at the psych sheet and then scratch the events you don’t want.
Training
I feel like I was in pretty good shape for this meet. I swam about 3 times a week and did OrangeTheory twice a week – along with doing a little running and cross training for a Tough Mudder.
For swimming, after working towards the 1 Hour ePostal, I focused on more short fast quality swims and made sure I did some butterfly. I actually trained for my 1 Hour swim that way too, but mixed in longer sets and swims to make sure I could hold my pace over longer periods. Once my hour was done I could focus more on speed and how I would swim my 100.
Quality over Quantity is something that works – especially if I only get 3 swims a week.
Here’s two workouts I did a few weeks before the meet:
- https://davidhouck.com/2018/03/16/hardy-freestyle-workout/
- https://davidhouck.com/2018/03/21/wednesdays-workout-plus-dryland/
Unexpected Fun
I enjoyed preparing for the meet and warming up / down after my events. It was great to come in, warm up as I pleased, focus on one race, and just be a swimmer. As a coach, I miss the parts of the swim meet when I can relax and prepare for one race. I forgot what that felt like and it was serendipitous to rediscover that feeling.
One great thing about Masters Swimming is that you aren’t required to climb out at the bulkhead. After my 100, I just followed everyone else to the side and got out at the ladder 😂
I probably should write a guide sometime for those who aren’t as experienced with meets on what’s expected, what’s needed, and what one should do.
In Conclusion
Master swimming meets are a lot of fun and more people should do them. That’s why anyone can swim 3 events at Nationals without a qualifying time.