50m Free Prelims/Finals results

Jun
3

50m Free Prelims/Finals results

Posted by Kevin Doak on Sunday at: 12:10am (June 3rd, 2012)

Today I swam the 50m Free in prelims.  I was rested and prepared for my race though I didn't really feel the "pop" I did the day before in my butterfly.  I know I can be a 23mid in the event and might even be able to get an Olympic Trial cut in the event at a 23.49.  Yet I find I have great speed through 60% of the race and just slow down at an alarming rate around the 35m mark.  It is my classic endurance issue.  In a sense, nothing has changed.  I took two breaths for some reason but I doubt it drastically affected my time.  I touched in a 24.06 to place 22nd going into finals.  I was slightly disapointed in my time, it would have felt much better to be a 23high.  Other than reducing to a single breath, there was nothing I would have changed about the race.  I got some sleep during the afternoon and prepared for finals.

I enjoyed watching some great races during finals.  Our middle distance guys were really impressive with great finishes in the 200 free and 400IM.  I will always respect IM swimmers the most.  That race represents every stroke dicipline all in one.  If you're good at it (or even try it), you have my utmost respect.  I watched an hour of swimming before I even got in the pool to warmup.  I had an ideal warmup and changed into my race suit 20 minutes before my race.  I chose to not do a "double warmup" this time.  I typically warm up, change into a race suit, do a quick warmup again and dry off.  This time I threw on the race suit and prepared behind the blocks for my race.  In hindsight, I don't think it affected me either way but I do prefer the double warmup.

My race was ideal in almost every way.  I breathed at 30m just once and seemed to be catching water the whole time.  It was really just that my body tied up so much at 35m that it was impossible to finish the race with a fast stroke rate.  I touched in a 24.26, two tenths slower than prelims.  I wasn't too upset about it.  I would have really liked a 23 second swim but considering how much focus I've put on butterfly the past few weeks, the fact that my sprint freestyle isn't top notch doesn't surprise me at all.

This was my last chance to make the Olympic Trial cut in the 50m freestyle.  Time to look at the positive.  If I had achieved a cut in the 50 free, I would have to swim it on the same day as the 100m fly.  The events are split by the 800 free so I would have had plenty of time to recover but I like the idea of one race per day at an event as big as the Olympic Trials.  My current schedule will allow me to fully focus on my backstroke race on June 26th, then change gears and have a few days to focus on my butterfly race on June 30th.  I think it's a great schedule.

Tomorrow is the 100m Backstroke.  I haven't swam ANY backstroke in about 2 weeks so this could be a little ugly!  If all goes well I'll make it back in the evening Finals for a second swim.

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