by Bob Moore
Irvine, CA.
Every time TWIM enters a swim meet, it is essentially a reunion, since our unique collective does not normally train together.
The short course Nationals in Irvine, April 27-30, was a Reunion for the Ages. A very determined pod of 10 TWIMMERS swam hard and often, racking up an impressive 103 points to help PSM win 2nd in the Regional Team division. TWIM made up a little more than 10% of the total PSM participation, with 93 swimmers overall.
For me, it was not just a TWIM reunion, but also reunions with college teammates and a contingent of 6 French champions, who swim with PSM at U.S. Nationals every couple of years.
(It was also a reunion with my younger self, but we’ll get into that a bit later.)
I flew back to Seattle yesterday. The Aleve and adrenalin are in full retreat, leaving aches and pains virtually everywhere. It is, then, the perfect time to write this blog!
Back to the pool. On a macro-level, this was the biggest Nationals ever, with nearly 2500 athletes competing and the 6th event dropped. The pool was boiling everyday from 6 am until well after 6 pm. Two 50 meter pools hosted heats of 10 swimmers, with a warmer warm-up pool also available. It was a fast meet. On the final day alone, 17 national records fell, with Rick Colella doing a lot of the damage.
For TWIM swims, seed times were largely ignored, with huge drops happening across the board. All ten of us had at least one swim worth writing home about. Here are a few of the individual highlights, in no particular order.
Carl Haynie swam 5 events, and Top Tenned in them all, with second place finishes in the 100 and 200 back. The 100, in particular, was a blur at 1:01.77. He also contributed to 3 relays, with the highest placing, 2nd, in the 200 Medley Relay. (His individual 50 back turned into quite an adventure, because he couldn’t hear the starter until the gun went off! Yikes.)
Laurie Jones took an astonishing 6 seconds off her 50 fly seed time, with a blistering fast 32.19. Her playbook was the same in the 100 IM, taking more than 10 seconds off her seed, in 1:14.57. Her relays were very successful as well, with a pair of 8th places in the 200 medley and 200 free relays.
Brad Jones swam 4 events, and was awarded Top Tens in all of them. His highest placing was 5th in the 1000 free, where he smoked a 11:12.09. His butterflies were solid as well, with a 26.23 (7th) in the 50 and a 58.39 (8th) in the 100. Brad also added a pair of second place finishes in the 200 medley and free relays.
Holly Lickwala was the busiest TWIMMER at the meet, swimming 5 individual events and 5 relays. Included in her 4 Top Ten finishes was a solid first swim, the 1000 free, where she blew her seed time literally out of the water by a full minute. Holly added a 6th in the 100 fly, 9th in the 200 free and 10th in the 100 IM.
Brent Barnes also had a healthy disdain for his seed time in the 1000 free, bettering it by 35 seconds. Normally, first swims can be a bit nervy, but not for Brent! He went on to best all his seeds, finishing a healthy 21st in the 50 breast, the last event on the last day.
Kathy Pelham got in the act as well, our only TWIMMER competing in the mile. She dropped 33 seconds from her seed and placed an impressive 7th. With two feet firmly in the distance lane, she also smoked a 6:16.24 in the 500, slotting 10th. Wow!
Dave Scott had very consistent performances, and clocked a quick 2:09.89 in the 200 free, grabbing 18th place in the extremely competitive 55-59 age group. He added 17th in the 200 breast, and won hardware in the 200 Free Relay with 8th!
Maoz Alsberg had a strong meet as well, with 3 Top Ten swims, including 8th in the 100 back, and a pair of 10th places in the 50 back and 50 free. He also got his Medley relay off to a rocking start by clocking a 28.04 50 back and winning 10th place.
Steve Fogg had a smile on his face, I swear, all four days of competition, and it wasn’t hard to figure out why. A points machine for TWIM and PSM, he garnered Top Tens in every event entered, except the 500 free where he got 11th. His highest placing was 2nd in one of his signature races, the 400 IM. His time: A smoking 6:37.72.
Bob Moore, also known as me, decided to spare my shoulder this year, avoid my normal fly events, and go all-in on back. I kept Carl company, and finished 6th in the 100 back, 8th in the 200 back (where iffy pacing led to a negative split swim), and a surprising 9th in the 50 back in a time of 31.23. This last swim was a reunion of sorts with my younger self, because I believe the last time I swam the 50 back I was in the 9-10 age group!
Individually, and overall, an impressive effort by TWIM.
Now, we’re taking a few well-deserved days off, and then it’s back to training. Because that is what TWIM does.
It was a blast swimming with you all.
I look forward to our next reunion!
Note: Next year’s Spring Nationals will coincide with the last few days of the US Swimming Trials in Indianapolis, much later than usual, at the end of June.
