2012 USMS Summer Nationals Meet Recap

Yesterday I finished my final swim at the 2012 USMS Summer Nationals in Omaha, Nebraska.  Although I wish my final day would have been more successful, overall I had an incredible meet.  I achieved 5 lifetime best times and 3 new American Records in the 30-34 age group to make the final record tally an even 4.  I met new people and smiled even more than I did at Olympic Trials last week.

The day started out with another great breakfast at the "Garden Inn" where I was staying near the CenturyLink Center in Omaha.  I highly recommend it if you're in the area. The breakfast can't be beat, what great way to start the day!  The hotel itself offered fantastic service and was 2 blocks from the "Old Market" area of Omaha which featured plenty of local restaurants and shops.  I relaxed for a bit and packed up my belongings before heading to the pool at noon for my scheduled 1pm swim.  I arrived in plenty of time and got to catch up with some old friends I hadn't seen at the meet yet.  By my 3rd day at the meet I was still introducing myself to other swimmers but I began getting "oh you're that guy who swam the...." type comments when they recognized my name.  It was flattering and a little ironic since nobody cared who I was the week prior since I wasn't in the top 3 at Olympic Trials!  I warmed up and prepared for my 100 backstroke.  As much as I tried to ignore it, my backstroke just didn't feel great.  I knew it would be a rough race for me.  I felt the pressure I was putting on myself. Over the course of the last 2 days I had demolished my lifetime bests in 4 events, I was 4 for 4 leading into the day.  I had a chance to make it 5 for 5 and then 6 for 6.  Since I swim the 100 backstroke at EVERY SINGLE MEET, it will be the most difficult to drop time in for probability reasons alone.  I was up against my best of a 57.44 (I've thrown out my 57.00 body suit time) which I achieved last summer at Stanford.  My time of 58.4 last week at Olympic Trials was nowhere near my best.  I needed to do something special to drop over a second.  During warmup I focused on my legs quite a bit.  Afterward, I did a single full speed backstroke start and kick out.  It was a flawless start, I cooled it down 200m and got out.  I put on my race suit for the 5th time of the weekend and headed over to the blocks to wait 15 minutes before heat 16 was called.  I watched a new friend Jeff Commings beat his seed time in the 100m back by a half a second just before my heat!  With a huge smile on his face, he pounded the water a few times and pumped his fist.  It made me happy to see him so pleased with his swim.  It was especially satisfying because I knew for a fact that he was ONLY celebrating his time and NOT his ranking.  Jeff pushed himself to improve himself and I can appreciate that.  I congratulated him as he responded "I warmed up lane 4 for you", I smiled as the whistle was called to begin our heat.  In the seconds before my race I could see a man with a large video camera to my right.  The USMS staff had mentioned they wanted to do a short interview with me so I assumed it was part of that process.  As I jumped in the water and set my hands and feet on those impossible to do a good start on interesting Omega pads I saw the camera guy to the left getting a close up.  It was distracting but I tuned it out pretty well.  The buzzer went off and I had a perfect start and underwater kicking.  I knew I had to take it out hard if I wanted that 57 second time.  My effort was controlled and my speed seemed good.  I had a satisfactory turn and great underwater kicks off the 50 meter wall.  I surfaced and ROCKED that last 50 meters.  I faded at the end but not as much as usual.  I reached for the wall and touched in a 57.58.  Although I was happy to see a 57 second swim and the 2nd fastest time of my life, I couldn't muster a smile, even for the camera.  I was consumed with the fact that beginning in April of 2011 I had trained for 2 months, tagged a 57.44, and a year later swam nearly the same time.  I was disappointed to say the least.  Seconds later I managed to give the jumbotron a little half smile as it zoomed in on my face.  Later I would find out that I didn't take it out nearly fast enough.  My first 50 was a 27.53 but I brought it home in an impressive (for me) 30.05!  If I can be proud of anything, at least I brought it home well.  My time did not exceed my lifetime best of 57.44, missing it by just 0.14 seconds.  I already had the American record in the event though. My lifetime best tally stood at 4 out of 5 swims for the weekend.  As I exited the pool, Gold Medalist Misty Hyman was right there with a microphone and a camera crew to do an interview.  I was VERY winded and this might have been the worst time ever to ask me to gather my thoughts about my return to competition and what I thought about masters swimming.  Although I was breathing heavy, I managed to get some mostly coherent thoughts out while keeping my responses brief and relevant.  It was nice to meet Misty and I got a few handshakes as I left the pool deck. (VIDEO HERE)

I spent the next few hours socializing and meeting people.  Masters is just a great group of people.

My final swim of the day was the 50m fly.  I was confident, perhaps over confident of my ability to get a 24 low second swim.  The American record was a 24.73 and the world record was a 24.15.  I really thought I had a chance at that world record with a good swim.  I did everything right leading up to my race.  My butterfly felt great in my 100 fly two days prior and my warmup was flawless.  I felt like I could just effortlessly glide across the water.  It was an amazing feeling.  With my first 50 meter time as part of my 100 fly last week being 24.67, I felt like a higher effort swim would yield a significant time drop.  After a few "good luck" comments back and forth between swimmers, I was ready to race.  I heard the gun and blasted off to a perfect start.  As I saw the 15m mark on the bottom of the pool approach, I realized I was too deep and surfaced a bit abruptly.  I was up by 15 meters but only barely.  In the video it's clear I slow down drastically in the last 1 meter before the marker.  My stroke felt rushed but that's natural with it being a 50.  In hindsight I should have either breathed every other stroke (like my 100m), or not at all.  I took one breath with an emphasis on lifting my face high to avoid swallowing water, my effort failed and I began choking on water at the 35 meter mark.  I buried my head and finished the race coughing and choking.  I touched the wall and looked up to see "DOAK, KEVIN   MICH ------ 24.59".  I was happy to have broken the American Record but really wish it had at least been closer to the world record of 24.15.

This meet taught me to trust myself, my taper and my coaches.  Although I believe I need significantly more kick training, my taper worked.  I achieved 5 lifetime best times in 3 days, the 6th swim was only a tenth of a second off of my best.  It was probably the best meet of my life.  I'm proud to say I'm the fastest swimmer I've ever been in my life at the age of 31.  I'm in the best shape ever and I'm doing a sport that truly makes me happy.  Swimming has provided me friends, a great work ethic, business contacts, self esteem, experience in setting goals and plenty of smiles along the way.