Happy Sunday Swimpros! Everybody is welcome. Starts in 40mins. Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/2906319395

On Saturday I had my first outdoor competition. This was also my first competition since I took a short break after regionals 6 weeks ago. The conditions were everything but perfect - bad blocks, 38 degrees and no cooldown pool. I still gave my best and overall quite happy with my results. First I had the 50 free. This was the first time I raced the 50 free this year. Felt terrible the first 25 and was also quite slow. Came back on the second half and found a good rhythm so I finished only .08 off my PB that I swam fully tapered. Next I had the 200 back: honestly it felt really good and I also swam my fastest 2nd 100 ever with 1:15.0 but was out way to slow in 1:12.8 so I was miles away from my PB. After a short lunchbreak I had the 100 fly. Honestly this event was my main focus for the day and it went pretty good. I changed my breathing-rhythm and pulling-technique after nationals in April and this was the second time I had the chance to try it out. Everything went well and I didn’t even feel like I was completely dying in the end. Had my fastest back-half ever. For me the main reason for this is my better underwaters. Attached a video. I’m in lane 4 with the silver cap. My last race was the 100 back. The same problem from the 200 appeared again. Splits were closer together than ever before but I was lacking the top-speed. So I went PB +4 The 100s of course were brutal because it was the hottest day of the year so far and I was completely stressed and dehydrated. Also not enough time to eat because I was coaching at the same time. I know that’s not an excuse but for me it was totally worth it - two of my kids (age 12 and 13) broke our team records in the 800 free LC. Maybe I’ll try to beat the male record next season Sorry for the long post guys😬

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZhua48yR8N/?igsh=MWJmbDh0ZHB0dDhhcA== I think this is something we all need to hear

Additionally, why is breathing every 3 strokes not for you?

Here's something nobody tells you when your kid starts taking swimming seriously: The moment it's actually working... is the moment it feels the most like it's falling apart. Most families quit right here. Six months too early. They misread one sign... and it's the best news they'll get all season. Let me show you what it is. I don't know where you're at right now. But this one's for any swimmer.. or swim parent... in a hard stretch. You're losing sleep. Doubting the whole thing. Wondering if the early mornings are adding up to anything... with no way to know for another two seasons. That's what hard actually feels like in this sport: Known costs. Unknown payoff. Almost no milestones along the way. The times sit still for months. You can't tell if you've plateaued or you're about to break through. Stuck, or standing right on the edge of something. Here's the good news: Hard means most kids quit. Most parents tap out. Which means... good. More lane for the ones who stay. When you're young in this, hard feels like a sign to pull back. Ease off. Maybe this isn't your kid's thing. But once you see what the path is actually supposed to look like, hard stops being a warning. It becomes a filter. Every 5am you show up for. Every meet that went sideways that you came back from anyway. That's one more name selected out of the pool you're racing. You survived another round of culling. And here's the part that sounds backwards: The kid grinding to drop a single second has it HARDER than the one already winning nationals. Not easier. Harder. Because the one at the top has momentum, belief, a whole crowd behind them. Your kid has a kickboard, a black line, and a question mark. They just can't see it yet... because they've never watched what it costs at the very top. That's me in the photo. Still grinding. Still chasing something most people gave up on years ago. The work doesn't stop when you "make it".. it just changes shape. So which sign am I talking about? The one that quietly tells you you're actually on the right path?