Well nothing really went as planned but I'm happy Im swam and got certain times on board. 50 back: 34.44 took off half a sec, this race felt powerful and underwaters went better than expected. My arms and legs were flying and it felt like the strongest backstroke I've had in a while. 200IM: 2.59, stayed on my time, not my best time But I wanted to swim this as early as possible because for us, here in SA, you need a 200IM time or else you can't swim regionals/ levels. My 50 fly felt amazing but my chest got really wheezy the last 5m because I'm still a bit sick, because of the water pressure on my back I had a few coughing fits during the back and was fully out of oxygen for the breast, and freestyle I pushed through but couldn't sprint it. I'm just happy the time is down for the season and don't need to worry about it in the long run. 50 free: 30.01 added 2 seconds. My chest was still wheezing, I slipped on the block and had a deep dive, I choked right before the turn and burst into coughs right as I came out. I also lost concentration before the race because someone said good luck, and I turned my head to say thanks. I can take the lesson that I don't need to say thank you or be friendly before a race because it's not gonna kill someone if you don't answerπ
, and that it's important to stay in your zone. I'm not even disappointed with the times because I knew it was all my chest could handle that day. I spoke to my coach about it and we chatted about how the races felt in general. He said he didn't care about the times as long as I tried as hard as I could and my IM time is down. I'm just a little disappointed about how the circumstances were and that I know for myself I could have swum so much better. I'm taking a learning from this; it doesn't matter the times, I enjoyed the races and the feeling of racing again after season end break.