Indy Recap and start of taper
Sorry for the delay in this post, but I did want to provide a quick recap on my meet in Indianapolis as I head into Championship season. I swam about the same times in the breaststrokes as I did in Missouri swimming a 1:04.04 (out in 29.97) in the 100 breast and a 2:19.77 in the 200 breast. The big improvement I did see was in my 200 IM where I swam a 2:10.01 in prelims and an in-season best for me of 2:08.67 in the finals. All of these times were encouraging for me as I raced well at night and will transfer into good results come Canadian Spring Nationals in two and a half weeks.
So what do I mean by taper? Taper is a swimming term referring to “the reduction of workload during a period immediately prior to a major competition” or what I call the best part of swim training where practices become shorter, more speed focused, and more fun. Taper is more than just a reduction of meters in the pool though, it just as important time of mental preparation to get ready to swim fast through visualization. Typically during taper time, swimmers may appear very lazy and try to do as little physical activity as possible, but since swimming is a truly full body sport, it is very important to cut back on all physical activity, especially to rest your legs, so that your body is as full of energy as possible come race day. I know this is a lot of swimming jargon, but for me constitutes the most important part of the year as I prepare for the Canadian World Championship Trials in Victoria this March 31-April 3. Time to swim fast is quickly approaching!
Indianapolis Grand Prix
I am in getting ready for my last preparation swim meet before Canadian trials March 31 in Victoria. I am currently in Indianapolis getting ready for the Grand Prix meet starting tomorrow. I will be swimming the same events as two weeks ago in Missouri starting with the 100 Breast tomorrow, 200 Br on Friday, and 200 IM on Saturday. I might also be apart of some Swimming Canada relays.
Main website for the meet can be found here with includes a live webcast of both prelims and finals. The competition will be broadcast on Universal Sports on Thursday, March 3, from 3-5 p.m. PT and on Friday, March 4 from 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. PT.
The competition should be really fast again which includes most of the same people I was racing at Missouri and adding in 4-time Olympic gold medalist Kosuke Kitajima. I will also be taking on Phelps, Lochte, Rogan, Mellouli, Shanteau, etc. in the 200 IM. The Indy pool is home to the US Olympic Trials from 1984, 1992, 1996, 2000, as well as many other major events, diving Olympic trials, and synchronized swimming Olympic trials. My team, UCSC, has 10 swimmers entered in the meet, so should be a lot of fun this weekend racing and cheering them on. I will update a couple of times during the meet if I can.
To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.
Paul Kornfeld 