tyler’s take

On Sunday I helped start off the meet by swimming in the first heat of the morning’s first event, the 400 free. I skipped the 100 IM and watched Todd and Ande swim it (Ande went 1:00.32 and set a new national record in his age group).

The next event was the 200 Medley relay. We kept the same order that we used on the 400 medley the day before: Ande (backstroke), Todd (breaststroke), Tyler (butterfly), Mike (freestyle). Last year at Long Beach, Ande, Guth, Tyler, and Jon, set the national record with a 1:49.80, but missed the world record at 1:46.19. Here’s how we split it this year:

Men 160-199 200 SC Meter Medley Relay
1)Rasmussen, Anders (27.41) 27.41
2)Bartee, Todd (29.13) 56.54
3)Blessing, Tyler (25.38) 1:21.92
4)Varozza, Mike (23.21) *1:45.13

* World Record DDS MILANO ITA 01/29/2006  1:46.19

After the medley relay I had about 6 heats to cool down before the 100 back. Then I watched the 100 free. I have to admit it’s a bit difficult to watch a race when I could be a part of it, but there are only so many swims that I can do in day. Todd took some video of my heat in the 200 IM, then I spectated again for a great race in the 50 Fly, and we wrapped up the individual events of the meet with Todd chasing Roque Santos in the last heat of the 200 breast.

After all this we came to the last event of the meet, the 200 Free relay. For this race we swapped in Max for Todd and flipped the order, with me leading off so I could get a 50 split for the season. The eagle-eyed among you might notice how precise Mike was on his relay splits (marketing types take note: that’s three nines fine; nice).

Men 160-199 200 SC Meter Freestyle Relay
1)Blessing, Tyler (23.68) 23.68
2)Varozza, Mike (23.20) 46.88
3)Rasmussen, Anders (23.96) 1:10.84
2)Stinchcombe, Maxwell (24.60) *1:35.44

* World Record DDS ITA 01/18/2007 1:36.29

Today was a good day for swimming, although the start was a bit unusual.

The early morning sky was clear blue and more than a bit windy. Around 7:30, Ande and I headed over from our hotel to meet Todd and Mike at their hotel restaurant for a big omelette breakfast. We’d been told by the meet officals that the afternoon ASU football game was going to make parking at the pool (which is adjacent to Sun Devil Stadium) rather tricky, though for a game day the streets were unusually empty; near Todd’s hotel and the pool they were essentially deserted (perhaps the Tempe locals have not yet fully developed their tailgating abilities).

To avoid both the parking morass and the short (yet potentially taper-busting) trek, Todd had arranged the previous night to have the hotel airport shuttle driver take us the five short blocks to the pool. At 8:20 when we were sufficiently fed, Todd found the shuttle driver flipping some papers behind the front desk and told her that we were ready to go. She gave a glance at the clock on the wall, turned back to her paper stack and said, “well, I have to make an airport run at 8:30 so I can’t take you now. Maybe I can do it later.” Have I mentioned that it was 8:20, the streets were essentially deserted, and we needed to go about five short blocks? Was that a firm yet gentle “WTF” discernable on Todd’s slightly furrowed brow? No worries. The four of us piled into Ande’s rented PT Cruiser and headed east. Unsurprisingly, the lot north of the pool that we had used the previous night was blocked off. Someone spotted a nearby open parking meter and we made a b-line, only to find it marked “special event parking by permit only.” Undeterred, we found some unmarked meters across the street and before we all unloaded I stepped out to read the fine print: “Sundays and Holidays free. 80 minutes maximum at all other times.” Todd’s brow looked slightly furrowed again. We pulled around the corner and checked one more meter with identical result. At this point someone, possibly Ande, suggested that we just try the garage between the pool and the stadium and pay whatever, though it seemed to be protected by football game staff. Ande pulled into the garage entrance and asked a young staffer, “Hi, can you tell me where we can park around here?” and she responded, “are you here for the swim meet? You can park here for free.” Sometimes it pays to ask.

The first event on saturday was a 4000m swim, which is such an unusual distance to race in a pool that the meet software did not approve of it even being printed in the heat sheet where it was listed as a 3k. I asked the meet director about that and she said, “well it just wouldn’t let us do it. We could enter 3k or 5k but not 4k.” Hmm, maybe there’s a clue buried in there somewhere.

At 9:00 am the two valiant 4k racers (four entered but only two had the gumption to actually do it) went off the blocks, and for the next 59 minutes and 52 seconds stayed within half a body length of each other. One of them had a better stroke and the other a better streamline, so one would get about half a body length lead every length, then when they surfaced after the turn they would be about even (I wonder if that kind of thing could be frustrating?). It went on like this for a long time.

Men 160-199 400 SC Meter Medley Relay
1)Rasmussen, Anders 28.29 (30.81) ((59.10)) 59.10
2)Bartee, Todd (30.15) (34.25) ((1:04.40)) 2:03.50
3)Blessing, Tyler (25.72) (29.80) ((55.52)) 2:59.02
4)Varozza, Mike (24.72) (27.19) ((51.91)) 3:50.93
Longhorn Aquatics *3:50.93
* World Record 07-21-06 GOLD COAST MASTERS 4:06.71

The current records by age group.

After an uneventful pair of non-stop flights (Ande and Max on US Air, and Todd, Mike and I on Southwest) and three rental cars later our crew has arrived intact in Tempe. I rode with Ande directly to the pool since we were both swimming the “distance” events tonight. When we arrived at the parking lot for the pool (it’s an outdoor facilty) the evening was well settled into dusk, the overhead lights at the pool were on and I heard the announcer on the PA system saying that the first heat had just started (it was right at 6:00 PM local time). Ande entered the 800 free and I entered the 1500. Here is how it played out:

The 800 was the first event. Ande wound up in heat 4 lane 3. He went out fast. Very fast. In fact, his first 50 split was a 24.33, which was just 0.04 seconds off of the national record in his age group. He stopped at the wall long enough for me to tell him his split time, then he proceeded to finish the remaining 750, picking up the pace enough around the 400 or so to win his heat (Todd counted for him starting at the 200).

After Ande’s swim there was one more heat of 800s. Patrick Brundage, who lives here in the Phoenix area but has stopped in and trained with us in Austin on a number of occasions, swam in the final heat and went 8:48. He looked very smooth going out in a 1:03 and then averaged 1:06 the rest of the way.

The next event (the final event of the night) was the 1500, and I was entered in heat 1 lane 8. It’s quite possible that this 1500 is the first one I’ve ever swum, and most certainly the only one in the last 20 years. I was wearing a blue seventy nero comp swim skin for the first time in a race (I wore it once in practice for a fast 50 fly earlier in the week). I was going for a 200 free split in this race and when I dove in at the start I really felt like I was gliding through the water. Todd was watching and later told me I was out at the hundred in 56 and back in 59 for a 1:55.7, which is about 1.5 seconds better than my time from Long Beach last year when I was racing the actual event and hadn’t just come from the airport after a 2.5 our flight. I sat on the wall for about 3 seconds after the 200 then went back at it and touched again at the 400 in 4:19. Around the 800 I was really thinking about how hard the suit was pulling against my shoulders and wanted very badly to stop, unzip it and pull it down to my waist, but I kept on going. I ended up finishing the 1500 in a 18:05, and after my touch the meet referee was standing over my lane (I finished first in the heat) and she asked me if I was going to finish the race, because my 200 split would not count if I didn’t finish. I told her that I thought I was finished, but that I was relying somewhat on my lap counters (Todd and Mike) to have counted properly. The she said, “well the 1650 has 64 laps …” and I replied, “true, but this is a 1500.” And she said, “oh yes, of course it is! You can go on and get out you’re done.” …. Phew (I was not excited about swimming any further).

After the racing, the 4 of us drove to the hotel and walked over to Gordon Biersch for dinner. Jon called (or Ande called Jon) and we relayed the meet results. During this call someone started shooting very big fireworks off over Sun Devil stadium (it’s apparently homecoming weekend at ASU). After dinner we returned to our hotels and hit the sack. Tomorrow we start the with an attempt on the record in the 400 medley relay. Should be a fun one!

Ande, Todd, Mike, Max, and I are heading to Tempe, AZ this weekend for the 2008 Ron Johnson Invitational short course meters swim meet held on the campus of Arizona State University at the Mona Plummer Aquatics Center, which is conveniently located about 5 miles east-southeast of the Phoenix “Sky Harbor” airport, which is conveniently located one non-stop flight (about 1000 miles) west-northwest of Austin.

Of the three competitive (pool) swimming “seasons” here in the US, the short-course meters season is probably the most obscure. Texas certainly has a dearth of multi-day meets, although other parts of the country are better represented in this regard.

At this meet Ande is gunning for a national record to call his own, and various combinations of four of us will be looking to break some relay records.

The results for last year’s meet are still available here, and at some point the results from this year’s meet likely find their way there as well.

At master’s nationals I was somewhat disappointed with my 100 Fly. I thought it would be a good exercise for me, and my coach concurred, to keep resting a little longer and see if I could go any faster than the 57.50 I did at the American Long Course meet in February.

Well, this morning I swam in the Texas Senior Circuit #3 meet at College Station and I ended up going .24 seconds slower than I did in February. The swim felt smooth, but I just didn’t have the speed I needed. I was out in a 27.01 and needed to be out at least a second faster than that; I got home in 30.73 and I needed to be at least a second faster than that. So all around I needed to be faster. To get there I probably need to take at least 2 fewer strokes per length. At this point I think I really need to lift weights if I want to drop any more time (I’m certainly not getting any younger).

If you want, you can check out all of the meet results.

Master’s nationals went well. I had several great swims and also some mediocre ones. I did accomplish one of my goals for this season, which was to go under 21 seconds in the 50 yard free. I actually did that two times (three if you count bringing home the last medley relay). Many of my teammates also some really outstanding swims. Our club and the Texas Swim Center did a really fantastic job of hosting the meet. Many thanks to all the volunteers! More to come…

The first day of the 2008 USMS short-course nationals meet is done. If you check out the real-time results you will find several TXLA swimmers who had outstanding swims yesterday (on the distance day), including the first national champion of 2008 from TXLA: Amy Marsh won the Women’s 30-34 1000 Yard Freestyle by almost 12 seconds. Way to go Amy!

I constructed a heat sheet for the meet that shows only the swimmers on Longhorn Aquatics. I thought this might be useful for those on the team who want to avoid all the “noise” of the full heat sheet and not miss any of their teammates swims. I left some space in between heats for people to write in the swims of friends (or superstars) who they don’t want to miss, but aren’t on TXLA.

Kudos to anyone who can explain this chart (hint 1: leave a comment; hint 2: the clues are in the peaks and valleys).