Settling Back In To Training
I’ve settled back in Missouri and gotten a good block of training in over the course of April. Early in the month I competed at the Sacramento Pro Swim Series. Then I started my new job as an Aquatic Design Engineer at Counsilman-Hunsaker. After more training, I flew out to Florida for a couple of swim competitions. I’ll cover all of that in this newsletter, so let’s dive in!
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What’s Happening?
At the Sacramento Pro Swim Series, I surprised myself with my event lineup. Before this meet, I didn’t expect to swim much or any backstroke before Nationals in June due to my final prep competitions being outdoors. I struggle to swim straight down the lane without any reference points (i.e. a ceiling). However, the psych sheets looked favorable for backstroke, so I stuck it out! That decision paid off (literally… there’s prize money for the top 3) as I placed second in both the 50 and 100 backstroke events. I went times of 26.30 and 56.82, respectively. Coming straight from altitude training gave me a boost and I swam lots of events. I placed 6th with a 50.06 in the 100 freestyle (49.96 in prelims) and 7th in the 200 free (1:49.75).
Additionally, I swam the 100 and 200 butterfly events in the morning sessions. I ended up racing a total of five times on the first day and was feeling sore the next day. Remarkably, by the final day of competition, I felt fresh again. Ten races in a 72 hour stretch is not something I’ve done very often!
After a successful outing in California, it was time to enter the real world by working at Counsilman-Hunsaker. I will be commuting into St Louis once a week and be remote the other days. I’m thankful to be working for a company that is as excited about my swimming career as I am. I’m committed to swimming through LA2028 and can’t wait to build my knowledge on aquatic design while I pursue the goal of making the Olympics. These past few weeks I’ve already started making new relationships and learning all that goes into designing, building and operating the many pools I’ve swum in.
I was invited to participate in the 14th annual JAX50 Sprint Dual Challenge in Jacksonville, FL. The marquee event of the meet was a 50 freestyle bracket. The top 8 face off 1v1 style. I was the #2 seed, so I faced the #7 seed in the first round. I won that match up and proceeded to race the #3 seed in the next round. I swam a 23.35, but was outtouched by a 23.27. That put me in the third place bout where I was outtouched again (this time by 0.07), ultimately placing me fourth. The pros/Olympians hosted a Q&A following the meet where we shared our experiences with the age groupers and took loads of pictures. Thank you to the Planet Swim Foundation for bringing me out for the event, this was a lot of fun!
Looking Ahead
Shortly after the JAX50 event, I headed further south for the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim Series which took place April 30th to May 3rd. Read about that next month!
Audrey Guyett and I will be getting married at the Van Dusen Mansion in Minneapolis, MN this October! The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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