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The time trials begin in about 30 minutes, I swim in about an hour. It was a good prelims session. I got to see my friend Zach Wood swim the 400 free, he did well but I didn't get to see if he made it back tonight for the final session (top 24). I got some good action shots of him swimming though!

I'll be interested to see how I swim today and tomorrow. Because of work conflicts I haven't had a chance to swim on Tuesday or Wednesday. We'll just call it a mini-taper. I'm going to wear a Speedo FS2 full body suit (previous generation speedo) for the time trial.

Well, like clockwork while I'm at an out of state meet, there is a tornado warning in the Minneapolis area. I'm on my way to the pool now and if I don't get sucked up by the tornado first I'll swim a 50 free time trial after prelims. I'm excited!

After a fantastic road trip I arrived safe and sound in Minneapolis. I got checked in to my hotel and I'm excited to report I have a glorious view of the Fuddruckers next door! I'll wake up and warmup before the prelims session begins at 9:00am (Central time). I'm planning on doing a 50 Free time trial tomorrow after the preliminary session. I have the 100 Backstroke on Friday morning for prelims. I got ahold of my cousin Chris who lives in the area and I hope to meet up with him while I'm here.

I've had a few calls or emails wishing me luck for the U.S. Open and I appreciate the support my friends and family show me! I hope I swim well this weekend, however, I'm simply going to visit some friends and experience my first U.S. Open meet. I'm excited to understand what this meet is all about so I can arrive very prepared next year and be ready to compete at the highest level. I'll swim this evening and probably tomorrow morning before leaving on a full day road trip to MN. I feel like these meets are such great adventures.

I was over at Fuller Pool today swimming and EMU yesterday. I've been working hard in the pool before I leave for the U.S. Open. I'll be driving out to Minneapolis to the meet, take a day to prepare for my 100 back and then swim on Friday. I'm excited to be part of my first U.S. Open Championship! I have to admit it's a little anticlimactic after the Olympic Trials but I'm sure it will be a very competitive meet overall. With most of the pressure off of the event, I'll have time to meet people and make more swimming connections.

It took me a while, but I found a photo gallery format I like, I'll be adding pictures to this gallery over the next few days as well as tweaking the layout:

http://kevindoak.com/pictures.php

I got a call from my friend Sarah who coaches Travis Pointe Country Club in Ann Arbor this morning telling me they were one person short for their coaches relay in Milan. Luckily I could break away from work for a bit to come to the rescue. (I make it sound urgent, chances are they would have just asked somebody else!)

The U.S. Open is about a week away. The meet is in Minneapolis, MN. I've recently been describing the competition as: "the Olympic Trials, minus the Olympians". Looking at the Psych Sheet I would revise this statement as: "the Olympic Trials minus the Olympians and the swimmers who need a break". Each event has 40-80 swimmers compared to 60-120 in the Olympic Trials. This meet is obviously missing the swimmers who made the Olympic Team, so looking at the #1 seeded times looks like we're missing a few superstars. Click below to view the Psych Sheet in PDF form

I had a nice practice outdoors today at Fuller Pool. I practiced with Sarah Volpe and saw my friend Julie Kern as well, it was a great day to swim and soak up some rays!

Here is a link to the virtual tour of the Dearborn Pool from this weekends masters meet:

Dearborn Pool Virtual Tour

Thanks again to everybody who made it a great meet!

Ralph Davis
Taylor Haskins

Claire Letendre
Kelli Stein
Sarah Volpe