My first race was the 100IM. I was at the start spot well before needed. Several heats early. If you don't get there at the right spot on time, you're SOL. I was there in plenty of time.

Here is a link to the YouTube video of my (and all of Saturday in the "Even" heat pool). My race is at about the 1:01:15 time mark. I'm in the orange suit with black cap.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETJzHkCtI5g

Despite the crowd and the relative magnitude of the situation, I wasn't all that nervous. Excited, but not over-the-top pumped up. The whistle blew and it was time for me to get on the block. I climb up and wait for the next whistle. "Swimmers take your mark." BEEP!!!!!!

I dive in and have a good start. I dolphin well. I start my fly stroke and it feels good. My first one keeps my head down, something that I learned to do watching Michael Phelps videos over the last month. I get to the wall and have a good turn.

The backstroke leg goes well. Dolphin on my back. I purposefully hold off an all-out sprint but give it a strong effort. As I close on the wall, I have a vague sense that I'm near the front but not first. I have no sense of what my time is at this point. Everything to this point in the race has gone well. Like I have envisioned many times. But I don't like my back finish as I'm too far from the wall and have to kick in before I touch.

One benefit of not all-out sprinting the back is that I have air for the breast pull out. And I flat out nail the pull out. I strongly push off the wall. Dolphin/pull. Kick. I surface almost at the halfway point down the pool, well ahead of my competitors. I start breaststroking for all I'm worth. Its my weakest stroke but much improved in the last year. In watching the replay, this is where I separate from the others. I hit the wall with a very good turn and start the free leg home.

I come off the wall well and have a good dolphin. More separation. I'm struggling for air now. But I try to avoid breathing to slow things down. I want very much to pick up my tempo, but I'm going as fast as I can now. As I get down the pool, my lungs are screaming for air. But I breath 3 times on the last leg and close as hard as I can.

I touch the wall and look up at the scoreboard. I can make out 1:03: and change. I get an enormous smile and surge of pride. I beat my previous PR by 6 seconds. I was astounded at that time. I could not believe it. I could not have been happier.

It turns out that I won my heat. My official time was 1:03.61. I was 35th out of 59 in my AG. The NQT was 1:05.81. I beat it by over 2 seconds.

I had about 4 hours before my next event, the 50 free. I definitely needed a good hour to really recover from the effort. I was glad to have the long recovery.

Knowing that I had so much time, I went and watched some of the later 100IM heats. I got to see Matt Grevers go against Anthony Ervin, 2 London Olympians and likely Rio Olympians. It was one heck of a heat. Grevers got out fast on the fly and back, dolphining each way to close to the 15 meter mark. He extended his lead to a body length coming into the free. Ervin, the free sprinter, did his best to track Grevers down. He did not take a breath on the free leg and closed the gap considerably. Grevers touched in a new record 47.78. Unreal.

I ended up taking off my tech suit and putting on a practice jammer. I also got something to eat. I went through both a cool down as well as a new warm up.

The 50 free was my second race. www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YCbrBWAJJk
the 4:44:30 mark

I had my best start of the meet. A few dolphins and I'm up and swimming hard and fast. I think I breathe once on each leg. I have a good turn. A quick dolphin and I'm sprinting again. I refuse to take a breath before hitting the wall. I try to find another gear to increase turnover, but its not there. I hit the wall and look up to the scoreboard. Its too far away for me to read with wet goggles. After I get out, I ask the timers what it was. They tell me 25.00.

Holy COW! I get another huge smile. I swam the event 6 weeks ago and my time was 26.36. I just knocked off 1.3 second from my PR!!!!!! And I beat the NQT (26.03) by a second!! WOW!!!!!!!!

I learned later that my official time was 25.09, not 25.00. I finished 45 out of 66 in my AG. But I was still incredibly pleased with the result. I could not believe it.

I get out of my tech suit and cool down in a practice jammer. I try to work on tomorrow's strokes, the fly and back. But my arms are telling me that they are done. I change and go out to watch the remainder of the day's heats.

I shave again Saturday night. It goes much easier than the first foray. I call home and talk to the family. They had been watching on the live video feed. I know that I'm doing well as my 13 year old son tells me, "Dad, that was really cool." .

Sunday morning is much like Saturday's. A good breakfast and some coffee. Arms are hurting some and I do take a couple of Advil. The side is annoyed too, but I ignore it. I'm at the pool by 8:30 and get some work in the competition pool. My first event starts a bit later though, around 11AM.

The 50 fly is what I qualified in. My plan is to do much like I did when I qualified. Dolphin off the start to about the 15 meter mark. Turn and dolphin until I run out of air.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoZD2TyW2NM About the 3:14 mark.

I have a decent start. Not as good as the 50 free start. I dolphin, but I must have miscounted. I surface around the middle of the pool, not the 15 meter mark. I stroke for all I'm worth. But my stroke feels off. Arms aren't right. Timing isn't right. It crosses my mind that my lack of swimming in the preceding month is showing up.

I do have a good turn and then dolphin hard. I go by feel and dolphin until I'm out of air. It turns out that I dolphin very close to the 15 meter mark. I'm a bit lucky that I didn't go over and get DQed. I do probably make a mistake of breathing on my first stroke, but I needed the air. I stroke hard to the end and hit the wall. One breath on the return leg.

I look at the time and see 26.93. How the heck did that happen? My qualifying time 6 weeks ago was 27.64. I just knocked off 0.7 seconds in a race that I felt off and out of synch. I'm 1.3 seconds below the NQT of 28.25. I was amazed. I was very pleased with my time but a bit disappointed with how I swam. The lack of recent swimming showed up. It tells me that I have more time to gain.

My time was 22nd of 48 in the AG. I finished in the top half of competitors. I am amazed by these facts.

I have a shorter turn around to my last event, the 50 back. One thing about swimming outside is that there is no ceiling to help keep on line when swimming backstroke. And with a bright mid-day sun, it can be really hard to see. I get in the outdoor practice pool to test the sun. It is blinding when going in the direction swimming away from the camera. I know that I'll have to look a touch to my left to avoid being blinded when swimming that direction.

Backstroke, though, is the stroke that I've historically had the most success in. Its what I became competent in quickest. I was hopeful that I could go sub 30. But its really hard to say I'm going to swim X time. I have to focus on technique and strategy and let the time be.

My plan is much like my fly plan. On the start, try to get the hips high out of the water. Enter hands first and get the whole body through the same hole. Dolphin hard off the start. Dolphin past the midway point. Technique wise, grab water on my pull, keep my hands tighter towards the hips at the end of my stroke, and keep my hips up and head back.

5:16 mark. www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSPk7Bxe64Q

I have a so-so start. Dolphin is ok, but not near long enough. Like the fly, my stroke feels off. My left arm/hand is sliding wide. I have a decent turn. But much like I was worried about in the practice pool, the sun on the return leg is tough. I try to keep my eyes to the left to avoid the sun. And I end up hugging the lane line. I do my best to finish strong. The left arm continues to stroke wide. Not sure if I'm fully able to keep the head back and hips up like I want. I touch the wall and see my time of 30.59.

A new PR by half a second, beating my previous PR from 6 weeks ago of 31.17. Also beating the NQT of 30.66. I finished 19th of 26 in my AG. I am so-so with the result. Very happy to have a 4th PR and a 4th NQT. But a bit disappointed knowing how much time I left in the pool on this one.

Wow, what a GREAT experience this was. Writing this report days later, I still have a huge smile on my face thinking about how it went. Way exceeded expectations. When I walked into the meet site on Friday, I had serious questions if I belonged. The initial warmup amongst all the bodies in the outdoor pool did not help. There are just so many great swimmers. But after Saturday's results, I fully accepted that I belong on this stage. Sunday was further confirmation. I am proud of how I swam and the results. I know there is still much to improve upon too.

It is such an exciting venue too. It is so cool to line up with both current and former Olympians. It was a major highlight to see Grevers and Ervin up close. And it was so exciting to see several national records fall while being right there to see it. The depth of swim talent is just amazing. So many great swimmers of all ages. It is awesome to see 1900 people of all ages and both sexes who share a passion. The comradarie of the swimmers is strong. It is an environment of such positive energy.

I don't know where I'll be a year from now. But I am starting to plan for next year at Greensboro. I know that I can go faster. Having this experience under my belt, lots of lessons learned, I know that I can (continue to) improve.


Instead of identifying limiters, I am making this a section of lessons learned or points to remember. In no particular order:

1.A middle-aged body does not respond well to doubling volume and increasing intensity. It might work in your teens and 20s. Not your 40s. I should know better from my tri years. I thought I learned that lesson then. But swimming applies too, not just running and biking.

2. Being the first time that I participated in a multi-day swim meet, the body definitely feels the previous day(s)' racing. This seemed common amongst participants. If you have a choice, do your harder events early.

3. Visualization works. I visualized my 100IM race many times. And I executed it almost exactly right. All of the different skills and elements, and it came off so cleanly.

4. Positive outlook matters. I had to keep upbeat and positive when my body was rebelling. It was tough to do many times. But I tried hard to stay positive and I ended up having a great meet.

5. A black swim cap is not the choice in an outdoor pool with a strong sun. It got hot almost immediately when I stepped into the sun with it on.

6. Wearing pants after shaving your legs feels really weird. Getting into bed between the sheets feels good though.

7.Doing things like going to Nationals is very exciting and a huge personal milestone. I had a lot of family and friends say how excited they were for me and how proud of me they are. When there is so much stress in most people's lives, having some positive things like this makes a big difference. These are the things that make life worth living.

8. I am hopeful that my story can resonate with other people. That I can inspire some people that they can achieve. That you don't have to be a former college swimmer to become a Nationals level swimmer. That sacrifice and overcoming some adversity can be done. I hope that these are lessons that I can teach my children.


The race site, staff, and volunteers were fantastic. Everyone was so friendly. The facilities were outstanding. In talking with other swimmers who'd been to many Nationals, they were saying this was the best facility that they'd been to. I can't compare it to any other large meet, but I can say that I found the facilities to be awesome. And again, the people involved were also fantastic. So friendly, so helpful, so encouraging.

What an amazing experience.