Sunday, April 17, 2011
Looking Cool.
As I was looking out my window about one minute ago there was a little boy skateboarding. I don't know what happened but somehow he fell off that skateboard and it rolled away from him. He had to chase his own skateboard down part of a hill. I know he didn't think anyone saw, so he just hopped right back of that thing and kept going like nothing happened, but I'm onto you little boy, I saw that. It's all about maintaining composure and pretending people don't see your embarrassing moments, I understand, I've had my share of trips up the stairs and quickly walking away, but someone always sees it. Just thought you should know, sometimes people see these embarrassing things, so maybe in a few years I'll bring this up to him again, but for now he can just skateboard and pretend he's looking cool.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Milwaukee.
I guess I can thank the wonderful weather in Moline for my recent detour to Milwaukee. When I was flying back from Florida yesterday we couldn't land in Moline, great, I know. So we took a detour to Milwaukee of all places, not even Cedar Rapids, and landed and waited for about an hour and a half to fly right back to Moline. I guess I got to love low clouds. Thanks for taking me to Milwaukee for the first time ever. I guess the inside of the airport is really nice. I just would have preferred to be home, but at least it wasn't Detroit.
Maybe it has something to do with the feeling.
On Wednesday I swam the 100 Fly at YNATS, and I wasn't really expecting much. I've been struggling with that race forever, so I just thought to myself, 1:05 will be good enough today, please a 1:05 (my best time was 1:01.53). As I was warming up I was feeling better, and I swam the 50 earlier and it felt nice. I thought "Hey, maybe I can do this. Maybe this pool is fast. Maybe I'll pull something out." So as I'm swimming my race I finish the first 50 and I'm feeling good, I'm usually pretty tired by this point. I reach the last 25 and I'm still up with everybody else. When I finish the race I look up at the scoreboard, 1:01.37. Killer. Maybe it had something to do with the pool, probably a lot to do with the fact I'm not anemic anymore, but maybe it had something to do with the feeling. Feeling good, and feeling fast. Whatever it was, I liked it.
P.S. I'll write about my Harry Potter Adventures next week.
P.S. I'll write about my Harry Potter Adventures next week.
Some team unity would be nice.
I got home from my big swim meet in Ft. Lauderdale yesterday, and it was such much more than I expected. When I arrived at the pool on Monday, the day before the meet began, I was in shock. This pool was huge! The actual competition pool had sixteen lanes, but I'm pretty sure it could have fit at least two more if the partition in the middle wasn't there. There was also a warm-up pool with more than sixteen lanes and a diving pool that was open for warm-ups with another eight lanes. It was crazy. But what amazed me even more than the sheer size of the facility was the amount of people they packed into it. There were 1700 swimmers total, which in and of itself was crazy, but even weirder was that only seven of them were from Iowa. I was under the impression that my relay was going to be the only people there, but there were also a few people from the Walnut Creek YMCA that ended up participating as well. In fact, I've swam with one of them multiple times before and was even next to her during the 100 Fly at the High School State Swim Meet.
The few people from Iowa made me realize that swimming really isn't very big in Iowa compared to other states. My teams has never even had a national team before, and other teams have been going to this meet with a large group for years. One team in New Jersey had 29 people who qualified. I don't even think my team has 29 people old enough to qualify, let alone make the difficult cuts. They must be breeding them differently over there, or their training technique is just A LOT better than ours, and they're more motivated to work. (See how I just used all there versions of there, their, and they're in that sentence. Cool.)
But perhaps the biggest let down of the trip was how obviously unprepared we were for this meet. My relay teams didn't even have the same caps. Other more experienced teams had coordinating caps, t-shirts, and jackets that they all wore, and it gave them a sense of unity. We just kind of walked in in our various t-shirts and sweatpants. We had no team area, no banner, and NO JACKETS. I think the jackets upsets me most, we are still ordering some even though the meet is done and over with.
The whole set-up of the meet was confusing. Odd heats were swam in one pool, with the evens on the other side. Prelims in the morning, time trials around noon, and finals at night. Everyone there basically seemed to know what was going on, except us. To make the whole thing even more confusing, for most of the time my coach was nowhere to be found. Before our relay he didn't sit with us, he was downstairs doing something else. Before the time trials on the first day he wasn't even there, and we didn't find him until the races were postponed due to the approaching storm.
One other girl from my relay and I were scheduled to swim at prelims on the first day. She was going to swim the 50 free, and I was supposed to do the 50 Fly. About 20 minutes into the afternoon meet it started to get really windy. People were in the pool swimming the 500, so we still had quite a bit of time before our race and we were just sitting around waiting for our turn. All of a sudden the announcer says over the loud speaker that everyone needs to go inside and wait the storm out, but there are still people in the water. They're allowed to finish their race, but the people already ready to go behind the blocks weren't as lucky. All the races that were left for the day were to be postponed for later in the week and the time trials for the day cancelled, the pool reopening for finals. I think the day really threw some people off, and a lot of people had to scratch their time trials because of conflicts later in the week, taking away one of their best chances to make the cut time for Nationals next year. The other girl on my team was one of them. I guess this is to be expected in an outdoor pool, the weather isn't always going to be perfect, but I don't think it should take away some people's chances to succeed. Oh well, maybe next year. The second day of trials didn't go much smoother.
On the second day of time trials when I was the only one from my team swimming, he didn't show up at all. Having not done a time trial the day before I had to ask other coaches what to do, and ended up approaching the New Jersey team. Embarrassing. Our team looked like a joke.
I think our experience would have been a lot more positive if we would have had a coach there with us who would come to the meet, stay at the same hotel as us, have team dinners with us, and all around be there instead of across town. Maybe that's why the other teams are so much better than us, but whatever the case, we're going back next year, and probably taking a different coach. But that doesn't matter right now, because my relay of four and the other three from Walnut Creek represented Iowa at the meet, creating a presence I don't think it has seen in quite some time, and we'll be coming back. Iowa is there to stay. And with jackets next year.
The few people from Iowa made me realize that swimming really isn't very big in Iowa compared to other states. My teams has never even had a national team before, and other teams have been going to this meet with a large group for years. One team in New Jersey had 29 people who qualified. I don't even think my team has 29 people old enough to qualify, let alone make the difficult cuts. They must be breeding them differently over there, or their training technique is just A LOT better than ours, and they're more motivated to work. (See how I just used all there versions of there, their, and they're in that sentence. Cool.)
But perhaps the biggest let down of the trip was how obviously unprepared we were for this meet. My relay teams didn't even have the same caps. Other more experienced teams had coordinating caps, t-shirts, and jackets that they all wore, and it gave them a sense of unity. We just kind of walked in in our various t-shirts and sweatpants. We had no team area, no banner, and NO JACKETS. I think the jackets upsets me most, we are still ordering some even though the meet is done and over with.
The whole set-up of the meet was confusing. Odd heats were swam in one pool, with the evens on the other side. Prelims in the morning, time trials around noon, and finals at night. Everyone there basically seemed to know what was going on, except us. To make the whole thing even more confusing, for most of the time my coach was nowhere to be found. Before our relay he didn't sit with us, he was downstairs doing something else. Before the time trials on the first day he wasn't even there, and we didn't find him until the races were postponed due to the approaching storm.
One other girl from my relay and I were scheduled to swim at prelims on the first day. She was going to swim the 50 free, and I was supposed to do the 50 Fly. About 20 minutes into the afternoon meet it started to get really windy. People were in the pool swimming the 500, so we still had quite a bit of time before our race and we were just sitting around waiting for our turn. All of a sudden the announcer says over the loud speaker that everyone needs to go inside and wait the storm out, but there are still people in the water. They're allowed to finish their race, but the people already ready to go behind the blocks weren't as lucky. All the races that were left for the day were to be postponed for later in the week and the time trials for the day cancelled, the pool reopening for finals. I think the day really threw some people off, and a lot of people had to scratch their time trials because of conflicts later in the week, taking away one of their best chances to make the cut time for Nationals next year. The other girl on my team was one of them. I guess this is to be expected in an outdoor pool, the weather isn't always going to be perfect, but I don't think it should take away some people's chances to succeed. Oh well, maybe next year. The second day of trials didn't go much smoother.
On the second day of time trials when I was the only one from my team swimming, he didn't show up at all. Having not done a time trial the day before I had to ask other coaches what to do, and ended up approaching the New Jersey team. Embarrassing. Our team looked like a joke.
I think our experience would have been a lot more positive if we would have had a coach there with us who would come to the meet, stay at the same hotel as us, have team dinners with us, and all around be there instead of across town. Maybe that's why the other teams are so much better than us, but whatever the case, we're going back next year, and probably taking a different coach. But that doesn't matter right now, because my relay of four and the other three from Walnut Creek represented Iowa at the meet, creating a presence I don't think it has seen in quite some time, and we'll be coming back. Iowa is there to stay. And with jackets next year.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Fun, fun, fun, fun.
Rebecca Black has gotten a lot of crap for her music video, Friday. And yeah, it is pretty bad, but she doesn't deserve what she's gotten. People have sent her death threats and YouTube comments are always pretty bad, but if you ever feel good about people in general, look at some of the comments on Friday and I promise your feelings will change. She understands she isn't a fantastic singer, and she has had a lot to deal with from the aftermath of this video. And yeah, maybe she shouldn't have asked Justin Beiber to sing a duet with her, but she's a teenage girl, so you can't really blame her for that either. I think the real people to blame are those who are threatening her. That's not right. No way is this the worst video on YouTube, but recently it has been under the most attack. No one deserves that, and I'm pretty sure the YouTube commenters of the world are synonymous with the most insecure. All Rebecca Black was trying to do was have a little "fun, fun, fun, fun" and she's been attacked for it. She didn't even write the song. I'd like to hear those YouTube commenters try and sing.
Twit.
This week I got a twitter account, but I feel like my motivation is different than others. I know for a fact not many people (if anyone) really care what I have to say on an hourly or even daily basis, and that is just fine with me, because I didn't get a twitter to send out constant updates of my life. Instead I got one so I could see what other people are saying, and I don't mean this in a creepy way. I'm not stalking anyone. I follow people who seem to have some of the funniest twitter feeds, and I have them sent to my phone. This way, if I'm bored at school, having a bad day, or just not really doing anything at all, every once in a while I'll get a little piece of humor sent to my phone. It makes me happy and sometimes even makes me laugh, which is good.
Recently I've gotten a series of bee related jokes that are pretty stupid, but just dumb enough to be funny. I've also read some pretty good Charlie Sheen jokes, and almost any tweet I receive lifts my mood. I think it's important to have little things like this to keep you relatively happy throughout the day, and I don't care what some people have to say about twitter, if someone can send me something truly funny I think it's a good thing.
Recently I've gotten a series of bee related jokes that are pretty stupid, but just dumb enough to be funny. I've also read some pretty good Charlie Sheen jokes, and almost any tweet I receive lifts my mood. I think it's important to have little things like this to keep you relatively happy throughout the day, and I don't care what some people have to say about twitter, if someone can send me something truly funny I think it's a good thing.
We're kind of a big deal.
Tomorrow I'm going to Florida! But probably the most important part is that on Tuesday I'm swimming my race. For real. Recently they've put up the psych sheet for the meet, and my relay is seeded 73rd (under Central Branch YMCA) out of 91 teams. Not too bad, not great, but I really wasn't expecting that much. But the crazy thing about this meet is how close everybody's time are. There is one team seeded at 1:52.07, and we have a 1:52.06. And if we were to drop two full seconds we would go from getting 73rd place to getting 26th, and the top 24 teams swim in finals later that night. It's a bit of a long shot for us but hey, at least we are swimming in it at all.
There are some really cool things about this meet, apart from the fact that it is in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. First, Peter Vanderkaay, gold medal winner in the 4 by 200 meter free relay in both Athens and Beijing. Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, and Klete Keller swam on the relay with him in both of these winning races. He's basically a pretty big deal. And he's talking to all the athletes on the opening night of the meet (tomorrow night!).
Second, it is held at the Hall of Fame Pool in Ft. Lauderdale. And this pool is outdoors. Being from Iowa I do not do a lot of competitive swimming outdoors since you would freeze to death during most parts of the year, but I think it is going to be really cool. Basically, when the pool is set to be short course (25 yards) this pool has a ridiculous amount of lanes. And since the meet is so huge (over 200 entries in some events) the stands are going to be packed for much of the meet. The picture to the left was taken at the YMCA National Swim Meet in 2009, so it's probably going to be crazy! I can only guess how loud it's going to be, which will probably help us to get really excited for our race and swim a fast time. We definitely have time to drop, and if we could do it at this meet and move up a few places that would be great.
Third, since it is the International Swimming Hall of Fame there are undoubtedly going to be some really rare and important swimming artifacts in the museum by the pool. Yeah, it will probably be really crowded, but it's really convenient that we are so close by, and we may as well check out what there is inside. Probably a lot of things related to Michael Phelps, which is always good. But what I'm really hoping for is some Ryan Lochte souvenirs. He's my boy and I would love a poster or something equally cool. We'll see.
Fourth, I'm going to be swimming with some of the fastest high school level swimmers in the nation. Some of the people at this meet are crazy fast and I'm excited to see someone swim that fast in person. Iowa really isn't a powerhouse for swimming, we're pretty slow compared to most other states, so fast by my standards is probably pretty slow by other peoples. For one, only five people from Iowa even qualified to swim at this meet at all, and the only four who ended up going are all on my relay. And we are seeded 73rd. So the other states must be picking up the slack because apparently Iowa isn't exactly holding it's ground at this meet. And I don't think anyone from Iowa has gone, at least in the past few years. So my coach is pretty excited about that. We're kind of a big deal. And yes, I know that sounds cocky, but clearly I'm not trying to be since I'm about to get seriously humbled at this meet. We've made it through this season so far without losing this race once, and I don't exactly think that streak is going to continue into the next few days, unless we drop twelve seconds. So I guess really, we're kind of a big deal (for Iowa).
Lastly, where this pool sits in the city of Ft. Lauderdale is incredible. It sits in the middle of a strip of land, surrounded pretty closely by the ocean on both sides. It looks like it is a really beautiful facility, and it will probably be a whole new swimming experience for all four of us. We're usually stuck inside at the crusty YMCA in super hot water. I think this will be good for us.
This meet is sure to be exciting, no matter how we do. Obviously we're going to do our best, we have goals for time drops that probably would be insignificant to almost any reader, so I'm not going to bore you with them, but I think we can pull out a pretty fast time. Maybe even win, maybe. Haven't you heard? We're kind of a big deal.
There are some really cool things about this meet, apart from the fact that it is in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. First, Peter Vanderkaay, gold medal winner in the 4 by 200 meter free relay in both Athens and Beijing. Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, and Klete Keller swam on the relay with him in both of these winning races. He's basically a pretty big deal. And he's talking to all the athletes on the opening night of the meet (tomorrow night!).
Second, it is held at the Hall of Fame Pool in Ft. Lauderdale. And this pool is outdoors. Being from Iowa I do not do a lot of competitive swimming outdoors since you would freeze to death during most parts of the year, but I think it is going to be really cool. Basically, when the pool is set to be short course (25 yards) this pool has a ridiculous amount of lanes. And since the meet is so huge (over 200 entries in some events) the stands are going to be packed for much of the meet. The picture to the left was taken at the YMCA National Swim Meet in 2009, so it's probably going to be crazy! I can only guess how loud it's going to be, which will probably help us to get really excited for our race and swim a fast time. We definitely have time to drop, and if we could do it at this meet and move up a few places that would be great.Third, since it is the International Swimming Hall of Fame there are undoubtedly going to be some really rare and important swimming artifacts in the museum by the pool. Yeah, it will probably be really crowded, but it's really convenient that we are so close by, and we may as well check out what there is inside. Probably a lot of things related to Michael Phelps, which is always good. But what I'm really hoping for is some Ryan Lochte souvenirs. He's my boy and I would love a poster or something equally cool. We'll see.
Fourth, I'm going to be swimming with some of the fastest high school level swimmers in the nation. Some of the people at this meet are crazy fast and I'm excited to see someone swim that fast in person. Iowa really isn't a powerhouse for swimming, we're pretty slow compared to most other states, so fast by my standards is probably pretty slow by other peoples. For one, only five people from Iowa even qualified to swim at this meet at all, and the only four who ended up going are all on my relay. And we are seeded 73rd. So the other states must be picking up the slack because apparently Iowa isn't exactly holding it's ground at this meet. And I don't think anyone from Iowa has gone, at least in the past few years. So my coach is pretty excited about that. We're kind of a big deal. And yes, I know that sounds cocky, but clearly I'm not trying to be since I'm about to get seriously humbled at this meet. We've made it through this season so far without losing this race once, and I don't exactly think that streak is going to continue into the next few days, unless we drop twelve seconds. So I guess really, we're kind of a big deal (for Iowa).
This meet is sure to be exciting, no matter how we do. Obviously we're going to do our best, we have goals for time drops that probably would be insignificant to almost any reader, so I'm not going to bore you with them, but I think we can pull out a pretty fast time. Maybe even win, maybe. Haven't you heard? We're kind of a big deal.
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