Day 4 -
Today was the final day of events for Jeff (there is 1 day left in the meet though), and Jeff was scheduled to swim the 200 Freestyle in the prelims and then going to do a time trial in the 200 Back, which he has not swum in awhile.
After the typical 6 AM wake-up and trip over to the pool, Jeff got in for warm-up. After 3 already grueling days, mentally and physically, Jeff wasn't really feeling it in warm up. Arms and legs were very fatigued and it was pretty clear that Jeff was pretty ready to be done. Coach Phil made him warm-up MUCH longer then Jeff would have liked, but it was crucial to get his body ready to race. 4 days is a lot of racing a good warm-up/warm down is crucial to keep the body ready. The 200 Free was the first event today so there wasn't a lot of time to mull the race over, which was probably a good thing. If you followed the blog all along, it's pretty clear that this was a physically and mentally draining week for a first time National Championship swimmer like Jeff (and others). Between knowing that the stands are full of college recruiters looking for the best talent for their programs and trying to impress them, to just plain being humbled by the sheer talent level assembled here, it's pretty exhausting.
The 200 was going to be what we coaches call a "character swim". Not feeling his best, mentally or physically, it was gonna be a challenge to summon up the moxy to get out there and swim a lifetime best (1:56.47). As coaches, we did what we do..... we got up into his grill a little bit and told him that he really wants to be considered an elite swimmer, he was gonna have to find a way to rise above the fatigue and find a way. It's not how you do when you are at your best that defines your true championship spirit, it's how you do when you're not. It sounds cliche, but it's the absolute truth. We didn't have much else to say really. It really was up to him at this point.
Jeff was in heat 6 and got out to a nice comfortable start. He was pretty much right with the pack in his heat (all swimmers that went about 1:56.50). He was out pretty conservatively at a 56.97. It was an okay first 100, but not quite as fast as we hoped. More importantly, his stroke looked a little heavy and he did not look comfortable at all. The 3rd 50 was going to be crucial. It didn't look good. He was right in the pack at about 4th or 5th at the 100 wall, and both swimmers on either side of him took off at the 3rd 50. They kind of started leaving Jeff behind. As any swimmer can attest, that is the defining moment in a race............ It's decision time - You either go with them, or you let them go. By 130-135 yds, it looked every bit like Jeff was making the decision to let em' go. As a coach for 25 years, you can almost here the conversation taking place in his head from the side of the pool. "I'm tired", "these guys are too good".... blaa, blaa, blaa. Jeff hit the 150 at 1:27.32, almost a body length behind the leaders. A lifetime best looked to be slipping away and he was 8th, out of 8 at the 150 wall. Generally, we knew that even at his best, coming home much under 30 was asking a lot. Not what we were hoping to see.
Sometime between going into the wall and coming out....... Jeff must have made another decision. It was clear in 1-2 strokes that Jeff wasn't gonna just give this race away. His tempo picked up and his kick went into overdrive. He was going to get the kid next to him........ Plain and simple. He almost did too. Jeff came back in his last 50 meters in 28.87 (which is very fast for him) and managed to go a 1:56.19. It was a lifetime best for him and more then 2.5 seconds faster then he has been all season. He was second in his heat and moved up to 53rd place from his 74th place seeding.
It was great to watch. It's something that as a coach, is part of the pure joy of our sport. Don't get me wrong, it you would have asked Jeff, or even Phil or I at the beginning of the meet, if we would have happy with a 1/2 second best time in this race, we woulda said no. But it was really the way this race was swum that makes it so satisfying. He coulda quit, we all knew he wasn't feeling his best, but he didn't. That's the lesson to take from all of this for you swimmers. Your not always gonna hit the water feeling like a million bucks, and your probably always find yourself up against bigger, stronger swimmers........ But if you never quit.... good things will happen. Whether you are swimming at this level, or just in a local competition back home. It's just racing, and its the best part of what we do.
Jeff was pretty much toast after this race, but we had the night before signed him up for a time trial in the 200 Backstroke (not the easiest of events when you are tired). He begged us to let him get out of it (it is, after all, a totally voluntary thing). Like good coaches, we refused and made him swim it. He hadn't done one in over a year and his time was a fairly slow (for him) 2:17.something. He needed to set a respectable mark for himself. Well, a few hours later, he got back in a swum the trial and went a very respectable 2:10.98, which is currently the second fastest Niagara 15-over time this year.
In the end, it turned out to be a very good experience for Jeff (and for us coaches). He came (for really the first time), to the highest National Level meet for swimmers his age, and was right in the thick of it. He learned that your not always gonna be the best, and that there is always more you can do to get better.
**NOTE** A quick note of thanks to Jeff for being a good sport in all this. These are valuable experiences, and someday some of you will find yourself here and to be able to share his experiences with the rest of the team is good. You might feel some of the very same things someday.
