Swim Meets...

...are hard.

Five events (50 free, 50 back, 100 free, 50 fly, 200 free...in that order) all within 90 minutes, with not nearly enough warm up, back stroke starts that haven't been performed in approximately 7 years, very little rest between events (not enough warm down between, totally my fault) and not a whole lot (read none at all) of sprint swimming specific training makes for one tired girl come Tuesday night.

I was pleasantly surprised with how I swam, Obviously I wasn't even close to my times the last time I competed in a swim meet, but that totally makes sense and I didn't expect to be close to those times. I am happy with how the day ended. 

Bonus, I fit into my High School Speedo Aquablade...size 24! 

I woke up yesterday morning and was not motivated AT ALL to get in my car and drive to the pool for a "swim meet" with 10 other people. But, I had made the commitment and paid the money, so in my car I got and I couldn't be happier with that decision. Yesterday was so much fun, I can't wait for another one! 

This is what warm up looked like...not your typical swim meet warm up. At least not what I remember swim meet warm ups to look like. I had my own lane, shoot, I had my own 3 lanes if I wanted. I got in, swam a little (less than 1000, whoops), I needed to practice my starts since we are NEVER allowed to dive into the pools here. Thankfully, my goggles stayed on every time! That much can't be said for others practicing their starts...Of course they weren't going to use touch pads, so my backstroke start was a whole different story. It's been a very long time since I've even thought about doing a backstroke start and let's just say it shows. I did a few back splats and decided I would just chance it for the 50, it's not like this was a championship meet or anything, except it was! The Hawaii State Senior Olympics! ha. In the end my backstroke start ended up fine.

The meet got off to a stellar start and the 50 free was up first. Nothing like "sprinting like crazy" and I say that very lightly, right out of the gates. Before the race, I said I would be happy with a 27 or better and I ended up swimming a 26.46. The hand timing was super accurate, it usually only varied by a second or two between the two people timing you (well, maybe not 2 seconds, but there was definitely one of my races that the two hand timers times were over a second apart, whoops! One race down, 1 state record nabbed.

Up next, the 50 back. Didn't slip on the start, almost made it 15 meters under water and broke 30. Happy with the result, since I haven't swam backstroke in years, but, by no means was it fast.

100 free...the race of the meet...you can get a blow-by-blow from the video Michelle posted to facebook.

These next few pictures are a little blurry because I took screen shots from a video Michelle shot at the meet of the Battle Royale between Ryan and I in the 100 free (the full length video can be found on facebook)

 Great starts for the both Ryan and I.

This picture is deceiving....we were still neck and neck going into the last 50.

See....flipping together into the final 50

Still stroke for stroke going into the last 15 meters of the race. In the end Ryan pulled away and was the winner. It won't happen again! There will be a rematch in the coming months (if there is ever another master's meet). 

50 fly up next, glad I didn't do the 100, but might consider it for the next meet. I think I could have gone faster had I been able to recover more, but super fun to race fly again. Happy, but not fast. 

200 free. Yikes, why did I sign up for this one? 200 free isn't even fun when you are in shape to race a 200 and it's your event. Silly, Lectie, maybe I will learn for next time. However, if this race was at the beginning of the meet, I do think I would have been able to go faster and I wish I could have raced "fresh" because I really think I could have been closer to breaking 2-minutes (haha).  Oh well, still fun and glad I did it.

I didn't warm down. Michelle and I decided we would warm down at swim practice in the morning. Probably not the best idea we've ever had. 

What a diverse group of 10 individuals that decided to come out for the meet. Kudos to everyone that was there, swim meets are not easy, especially if you didn't grow up swimming.

The man kneeling in the front of the picture is Archie Hapai. He competed in the first Iron man distance race ever here on Oahu back in 1978 (see link) and was first out of the water and finished the race. That's a pretty cool accomplishment, no? And he's still going strong! He was super fun and supportive all morning yesterday, encouraging everyone, offering advice just joking around and having a good time. AND he has a finishing kick like no other, you should have seen the speed he has in the last 5 yards of all of his races, unreal! I hope at 68, I can still be that enthusiastic about swimming!

What a fun morning. Everyone came away winners. Really, if you competed at this meet, you were a state champ! Michelle set a new state record in the Women's 40-44 100 fly, I set two state records in the Women's 30-34 50 free and 50 back and Ryan was a state champ x4!

If this is something that intimidates you, scares you or makes you nervous..next time a meet like this comes around, you have to sign up! I will be trying to get more people to participate next time for sure. What a perfect opportunity for people who like swimming, but are hesitant to race for whatever reason to come out for a couple of hours, have a good time and race in a supportive, competitive-esque environment. And how lucky are we to be able to have an outdoor swim meet in November!