About

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My Training

From February 2005 till April 2011 I trained on my own while developing my own workouts. This process served me well, I achieved top national rankings in United States Masters Swimming, two Masters world records and an Olympic Trial cut in the 100 backstroke in 2008.  In April 2011 I accepted an invitation to tryout for the Club Wolverine Elite Team.  I was accepted first on a trial basis and after achieving an Olympic Trial cut in the 100 Backstroke, I was officially accepted on the team to train for the 2012 Olympic Trials.  I trained twice a day with the Sprint group practicing 7 days a week.  I competed in the 2012 Olympic Trials and the 2012 Long Course Nationals for Masters which I achieved Lifetime best times in 5 out of 6 events.  I took a long break from competitive swimming until April 2013.  I trained with EMU's summer group for 2 months and was making solid improvements but I decided to focus my attention on my non-swimming life for a while.  In September 2013 I broke my ankle which caused some major setbacks in my general health.  I'm back in the water training solo.  I still can't help but smile when I dive in the water.  My love for swimming seems neverending.

Why I swim

There are so many reasons it would be hard to list them. They range from "I tried every other sport at 9 years old and swimming was the only sport I wasn't horrible at" all the way to "It keeps me healthy and happy". The single statement I could come up with would be... It's just who I am. I'm finally at a point in my life where nobody would expect me to swim, or to compete like they did in high school or college. It's entirely my choice, and that feels good. I carve out time each day to stay in shape and improve upon my times. I've kept swimming a priority in my life long after college ended and there's hasn't been a single day I've regretted it. Swimming has introduced me to people and experiences I would have never been exposed to otherwise. I love swimming.

My Diet

In June 2010 I made the decision to become vegetarian.  My choice was motivated by a few variables.  I've always admired vegetarians and vegans and their ability to survive without harming or killing animals. Other motivations were research based leading me to understand that humans perhaps aren't meant to eat as much meat as we do.  In the end, I simply determined through a month long experiment with my own diet that I could indeed survive without meat of any type.  My long term decision was: If I can not only survive, but train and improve without meat (and/or killing animals), then there is really no reason to eat meat other than at times it tastes good or is easier find than vegetarian meals.  Since making this change I haven't noticed anything positive or negative in my training or daily life.  I assumed I would either whither away to nothing, or feel AMAZING.  Neither occured.  I feel the exact same as I did before I started.  I eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables and drink lots of water.  I'm happy with my choice and it's working for me.  I do not take any performance suppliments of any kind.  I like knowing that any success I have in the pool can only be credited to me and not a bottle of pills.  During 2011 and 2012 I broke 23 lifetime best times, more than any other period of my life.

My Goal

The goal I've held at the top of my list since high school is simply being able to finish a 100 Backstroke Short Course Yards swimming 15 meters underwater off of each wall and not slowing down. This is much harder than you may realize. I've often said that once I accomplish it, I'll be content with my swimming career. Notice I haven't put any time requirement on that goal. I've never really even thought about what I would be capable of time wise if I accomplished it but I know it would be significantly faster than my current lifetime best of 48.51.

This Site

I launched this site in March 2008 to keep my friends and family informed of my swimming. I've really enjoyed using it as a tool to track my progress. I'm always overhauling the site to implement new features or remove old ones. The sad reality is that I break this site all the time testing new features which I then successfully apply to other projects. I apologize for any frustration this may cause. I see this as a hobby website and I treat it as such. Thanks for your understanding. Overall, I have a lot of fun with this site and I hope you enjoy browsing around!