Almost Finished With 6 Weeks of Travel!
Westmont Pro Series and National Team Altitude Training Camp
Welcome to another installment of my newsletter! Since my last addition, I have been keeping busy: I trained with the Mission Viejo Nadadores for a week while the Missouri Tigers were at the SEC Championships; I went to the NHL game between the MN Wild and the St Louis Blues; I competed at the TYR Pro Swim Series held in Westmont; And finally, I have been doing altitude training with the National Team at the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO. Buckle up to hear about the last two months or so and a sneak peak into what's next.
Looking to directly support me? If you place an order at TallSlim Tees using my referral link, I will receive a commission. You can also get a 15% discount on your order by using my code: JACK15. Thank you!
What’s Happening?
Training Trip to Mission Viejo, CA.
In February, while the Mizzou Swim/Dive team was busy competing at SECs in Auburn, I took a training trip to Mission Viejo, CA, to train with the Nadadores pro group. It was a fun week racing them, even though the weather didn't cooperate the entire time. Meeting new people and training with old friends are great ways to break up the monotony of staring at a black line day in and day out! I also had dinner with Cejih from CG Sports!
Wild vs Blues Game.
My sister, Kylie, and her boyfriend, Zach, came into town from Omaha, Nebraska, so we could go watch an NHL game with Audrey, my girlfriend, and a friend from high school, Chris. Being from Minnesota, we were cheering for the away team, much to the chagrin of the Blues fans. The Blues ultimately prevailed, but I always love taking a day trip out to St. Louis – especially when I get to see people who I don't get to see often!
Westmont Pro Swim Series.
As I was walking out the door to leave for the Westmont Pro Swim Series, a package arrived. It was new caps from TYR with the Team Triumph logo and my name. Shoutout to TYR for hooking me up with those and getting them out in the nick of time!
At the meet, I swam some of the fastest times unrested of my career! I made it into the 200 freestyle B final where I notched a 1:48.84 and placed 12th. My preliminary swims in the 200 butterfly and 200 backstroke of 1:59.30 and 2:02.92, respectively, earned me spots in the A finals of those where I placed 7th and 8th. Take a look at this visibility for TallSlim Tees during the pre race parade of the 200 backstroke!
It's always tough to race when you are in the middle of hard training. I made it a step more difficult by swimming two events in the morning sessions and then scratching down to one event in the evening. The strategy of this was to learn how to recover better and to swim under more fatigue at this meet, so in June it'll be easier to perform when I have less races in a single session.
Altitude Training.
After finishing up the meet, I flew directly to the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO, to get four weeks of altitude training in with the National Team. I have been taking in as much information as possible and really leaning into all of the resources available to me here. Once again, it has been a blast meeting new people and seeing some of my teammates from the Pan American Games.
Looking Ahead
With the altitude training camp coming to a close, I will be heading out to Clovis, CA to help out the Central California Swimming League All Star Camp April 6th-7th. Then, I will be flying directly to Texas to compete in the San Antonio Pro Swim Series from April 10th to 13th. After that, I will finally get to head back home after spending six weeks out of town!
If you recall from my first newsletter, I mentioned how I brought my grandpa's old fishing boat down to Missouri. Over the winter, I worked on building a casting deck for the front. Check out this compilation of the process of building it. I'm excited to take the boat out once I get back in Missouri and the weather starts to turn!
Available Opportunities
If you're interested in working with me for sponsorships, speaking engagements, or other partnerships, contact me here!
