In Indianapolis for the 2012 U.S. Open!

Looks like I took an unintended break from posting.  I've spent the past few weeks LIVING a little away from the pool.  It involved a lot of work, some family time and a move.  I had lived very close to the Canham Natatorium pool over the past 12 months, keeping my practice travel time to a 5 minute drive.  The practice situation over the past 4 weeks has been laid back and especially relaxed for me personally.  The head coaches were focused on the 2012 Olympic Games in which we had 6 swimmers competing.  It was exciting to watch my fellow teammates race against the best in the world.

Wu Peng - China (11th place 200m Butterfly)
Kevin (Bradley) Alley - Barbados (25th 400m IM)
George Bovell - Trinidad (7th place 50m Freestyle)
Barry Murphy - Ireland (29th 100m Breaststroke)
Milorad Cavic - Serbia (4th place 100m Butterfly)
Connor Jaeger - USA (6th place 1500m Freestyle)

I'm very proud of my teammates.  I know everybody wanted to swim a little bit better to meet their goals or swim a lifetime best but it's still an amazing accomplishment to have achieved what they did.  I enjoyed talking to friends and relatives during the Olympics and being able to tell them that I had already competed in the London Aquatics Centre and that I had friends swimming in the Olympics.  In a sense, I felt like I had experienced many of the pieces of the London Olympics without ever being an Olympian.  I trained with Olympians for over a year, I swam in the Olympic Trials, I competed in the 2012 British Nationals which was held in the Olympic pool, and I was coached by an Olympic Coach.  When I put all those peices together, I got close enough to the Olympics to have learned what it takes to get there.

Moving along.  I'm in Indianapolis for two days competing in the 2012 U.S. Open.  I'll be swimming the 100m Butterfly on Thursday and the 100m Backstroke on Friday.  This is largely a fun meet for me.  The time cuts for this meet were the same as the Olympic Trial cuts to it attracted only the top athletes to compete.  I have not put in the training prior to this meet to set myself up for great performances.  I will enjoy my time racing in one of my favorite pools and not worry about my rankings this week.  Looking forward to supporting my teammates and catching up with some swimmer friends!