2024 Zones recap

It's been a long time since I've swum at Zones! The last one I swam at was at GMU in 2019. This time around, it was at the Jeff Rouse Swim Center in Stafford.

The meet used to be held at George Mason University, but after covid the former meet host decided not to host it anymore, and it was up at Rutgers the past few years. I don't travel for Zones, so this was my first Zones in 5 years. Honestly, with the exception of doing backstroke starts in this pool, I like it better than GMU.

This was my first multiday masters meet when I've been in as comparatively poor swimming shape as I am this season, so going into the meet I was prepared to lay an egg in some of my races due to poor swim conditioning. I signed up for five events: 200 back, 200 IM, and 100 free on Saturday and 100 back and 200 free on Sunday.

Saturday Events

200 Back

This was frankly a better race than I expected! This was just my second time swimming the 200 back this season and I didn't have much in the way of expectations going into it. I left probably about a second in the pool due to an absolutely atrocious start and an inadvertently super-long turn at the 125, but a 2:22 puts me just about smack dab in the middle of my historical 200 back times, and once you take out the 5 different times I've swum it at Nats when I've been fully trained, shaved, and tapered, and this compares quite well to my fastest suited in-season time on record of a 2:18 from all the way back in 2013. More recently, 2017 was the last season I was faster than this swim in-season.

Final time aside, I split this quite well. That was my biggest concern going into this race, that I'd take it out too fast and not have the conditioning to bring it home, but I split this just about ideally for how I swim the 200 back. Going back to my MPR from 2013 when I got a very solid training block under my belt and focused almost exclusively on backstroke that season, I split that race 30-33-34-34, so with the exception of all of my splits here being correspondingly slower, they line up pretty well in comparison. Looking at my other times from Nats over the years, they all follow that general pattern, so this swim was in good company!

200 IM

I mean, I guess I dropped time from the one random 200 IM I swam last season? I haven't trained IM at all this season and haven't trained breast at all in two seasons, and it shows. Fly and back felt good, I had absolutely nothing on breast (it legit felt like I was treading water), and while I've definitely had slower (some significantly slower!) free splits on my 200 IM over the years, that particular split was on the wrong side of the trend line.

Stripping out my trained/shaved/tapered 200 IMs, this comes in at 13th out of 17 200 IMs I've done as an adult. Obviously not great, but could've been worse, and it was indeed a nearly 6 second drop over my seed time from that one swim last season, so there's that.

100 Free

I've raced more this season than I have since 2019, despite my concurrent lackadaisical approach to training, and one of the refrains at every single meet has been that I don't have a top gear this season. I haven't been able to find that top end speed in any stroke this season, and that was the case in this event, too.

Besides being a goofball and turning too far out from the wall at the 75 turn and nearly missing the wall in the process, this was a good race. I probably left a couple tenths in the pool on that last turn, but it likely wouldn't have substantially moved the needle for my overall race.

My speed kerfluffle was mostly seen just in the first 50--as recently as at Nats last year, I was able to take the first 50 out a full second faster, while my second 50 here was less than a second slower than last year. Looking at Nats in 2021, after the short covid season, my first 50 was about 1.5 seconds faster. Looking back at other 100s I've done over the years, that pattern more or less holds true--conditioning and the botched turn pretty much explains the gap on the second 50, but the first 50 is inexplicably slow.

Oh well! I don't often swim this in season, with nearly an even split of my 100s free swum at Nats vs in-season, but this was still faster than about half of my in-season swims, so I can't really complain too much.

Sunday Events

I had the 100 back and 200 free on the docket for Sunday. I was honestly worried going into the session--two day meets, especially ones where you don't just swim short events, is tiring even when you're fully in shape. I am not. Driving to the pool, I felt like I was at about 75% energy and had all sorts of aches and pains from the previous day's racing, despite a very long cooldown, lots of stretching, and liberal use of a massage gun Saturday night. I repeated that regimen Sunday morning when I got to the pool, but was still nowhere near top shape. I decided to just take the events as they came and try to have no expectations.

100 Back

This was WAY better than I expected! My start was merely adequate, though light years better than the absolutely atrocious start I had in the 200 back, I jammed the 50 turn, and probably should've taken another stroke at the finish. Still, after taking out all the Nats swims, the last time I was faster than this in-season was alllllll the way back in 2015. Between the three wall issues, I probably could've been down in the low 1:03/high 1:02 range, which would've put my only faster in-season times back in the stellar backstroke season of 2013.

Going off on a bit of a tangent, I think the main reason I did so well in this race was because I had a legit competitor in the lane next to me. Back in the 2012-2013 season, when I focused almost exclusively on backstroke, there was a local swim friend that I competed against multiple times in the 100 back, usually in lanes next to each other. We had some epic duels at various in-season meets and us trading off wins from meet to meet was a key factor in my backstroke success that season. Fast forward to this race and it was like time warping back to the '12-'13 season. I was better underwater than the dude next to me and he was better on the surface. We swam neck and neck for most of the first 75, then stroke for stroke the last 25, and it came down to .2 at the finish. It was great!

I've raced the 100 back a lot since 2013, but whether at an in-season meet or at Nats, I've almost always either been comfortably in the lead or haven't been in the picture (e.g. at one Nats where I went a 1:01, if memory serves, the dude in the lane next to me went something like a 50 point). Having an actual competitor in the lane next to me was awesome and I wish I could have that experience every time I race, 100 back or any other event!

200 Free

Eh, I'll take it!

Frankly, I was gassed after the 100 back and it being the end of a long meet. This was a season best by juuuuuuust about 5 seconds and my race was delightfully well split in comparison to many of my previous 200s free, but it was definitely slow in the grand scheme of things. I might have left a second or so in the pool over the course of the race despite there not being any clear issues like with, say, my start in both backstroke races, but I think this one can be chalked up to a lack of conditioning, being tired, and lack of top end speed in general. My fastest in-season time that I've got splits for was a 2:04 from the spring of '22, and in that swim I went out nearly 2.5 seconds faster on the first 100 than I did here, though my second half splits were relatively comparable.

Overall Thoughts

All foibles with turns/starts/finishes aside, there are a few clear takeaways from this meet, thankfully mostly positive:

• With this meet capping my season, I've officially gotten back into the ballpark of my pre-covid number of meets each season. Pre-covid I was consistently racing at anywhere between 8-13 meets per season between masters meets and age group meets, but the '18-'19 season was the last full season I was able to hit those numbers. I was well on track in '20, but only finished up the aborted season with I think 5 meets. Since then a number of the regular pre-covid masters meets didn't come back, I took a few seasons off from racing with my NCAP kids, and I also had scheduling conflicts with a few of the relative few masters meets still on the calendar. As a result, since I was doing so few meets each season, I was permanently rusty when it came time to race, regardless of my actual conditioning. I'm over that hump now! That's not to say that I don't still have kerfluffles when racing (cough, cough, 200 IM, cough, cough), but for the past two meets, I've actually felt confident for the upcoming race when stepping up to the block.
• All season I've felt like I've had very little power in my underwaters--for me, when those are my key selling point as a swimmer and have often been the deciding factor in races, that's a BIG deal. Whether in practice or at a meet, all season I've consistently felt like I'm not getting nearly enough power or speed from my underwater dolphin kicks. That changed at this meet! I don't know for sure if I was back to my old levels, but I was quite happy with the speed and power I got off all the walls when doing UDKs, even when gassed in the 200 free. I'm sure racing in a speedo vs tech suit plays some role in that, but whatever the reason, I'm happy to finally have had good underwaters again!
• I've gotta figure out my top end speed issue, particularly in free. The tricky issue is that my free *feels* fine and I *feel* like I'm swimming any other, faster, 100 and 200 free that I've ever swum...just the speed isn't at all there. It's the same issue in fly, though not quite as drastic as in free. Even looking back at seasons where I've had an abridged training block or what have you, it's way more of an issue this season in both strokes than in years past. It's just the top end speed, too--back end speed on those races has been comparatively much better than front end, so that tells me it's a speed issue vs an endurance issue at this time.

Onward and upward!

Thoughts on the season so far and path forward to Nats in June

My first three meets of the season are under my belt--a meet in mid December, Tropical Splash a week ago, and I swam an event at a NCAP meet yesterday. Mixed results overall, but some definite positive signs, too!

December Meet

• 100 breast - 1:16.1
• Outside of doing IM work, I hadn't (and still haven't) trained any breaststroke since 2022 Nats at San Antonio. Pacing was off, stroke felt off, and there was no top end speed, but for a throwaway race with zero specific training to back it up, it wasn't half bad.
• 50 free on the 200 free relay - :26.7
• Slow, slow, slow. Tweaked my lower back on the start and had ZERO turnover. Pretty much felt like the easy speed I aim for in the first 50 of the 200 free...and was a whopping .4 faster than my typical Nats opening split in the 200... 😬
• 50 fly - 29.6
• Abysmally slow, couldn't get into anything resembling a good body rhythm till about a 25 and a half into the "race" and my pull and kick were out of sync for the whole swim. Didn't die or even fade at all, just didn't swim fast.
• 100 IM - 1:07.5
• I was gassed by this point of the meet. I hadn't eaten enough and the meet was running an hour over by that point, so my tank was just about empty. With the exception of a shallow breakout on free, though, it was a clean swim, just no speed.

December Meet - Overall Thoughts

I didn't start training in earnest this season till a few weeks before this meet. I hadn't, and still haven't, ramped up to a full training regimen at that point (a full regimen is a consistent 5-7 practices per week), but I'd been getting in 2-3 good practices for a few weeks going into the meet. All in all, it was a decent starting point after not racing since April, and beyond just the total lack of top end speed, gave me some things to focus on in practice. Another big plus is that with the exception of tweaking my back on the one start, all of my dives felt fantastic--good reaction times, great power off the block, and clean entries.

Tropical Splash

• 100 back - 1:08.1
• Utterly atrocious walls on the start, first turn, and third turn. Utterly mediocre start due to having to use the bar instead of my normal gutter start, feet slid sideways and I ran straight into the rope on my first turn bent at a 45 degree angle, and my feet slipped again on the third turn. I think those issues realistically probably cost me easily 1-2 seconds. I felt good underwater...when I wasn't getting up close and personal with the lane rope...and felt good on the surface, so it wasn't a total loss of a race.
• 50 breast on 200 medley relay - 34.0
• Honestly, given that me and sprinting don't mix in general, and me and breaststroke sprinting especially don't mix, not to mention my current lack of speed, this was a solid time. I was noticeably slow getting off the blocks, but this was my fastest 50 breast since 2019. Over a second slower than 2019, sure, but surprisingly the fastest I've been in 4 years, so I'll take it.
• 50 free on 200 free relay - 26.4
• .3 faster than the December meet with a slower start (not sure why, but my relay starts at this meet were noticeably slower than in December--clean starts both times, just horrendous reaction times that were slow enough that multiple teammates commented on them... 😬). Felt a touch less like swimming in molasses than in December, so I'll take it. Probably would've been in the 25s if I hadn't decided to take a nap before diving! :-D
• 50 back - 31.3
• Same issue on the start as in the 100 and I slipped a bit on the turn, too, but overall a cleaner race than the 100. Historically, when I've trained for backstroke, a 29 high/30 low has been a good in season suited time. With where I'm at in my training right now, an unsuited 31 low is promising. Fastest in season time since a suited swim in 2022 and my second fastest in season time since 2019, so nothing to complain about!
• 100 fly - 1:10.4
• I did not *race* this swim. My shoulder issues on fly have been flaring up off and on in practice, so I decided to just swim this to physically complete 100 yards of fly, something I have yet to do this season sans fins. I cruised it till the last 10-15 yards when I finally pushed it, but I was able to successfully complete the 100 while keeping my underwater kick counts, my breathing pattern, and maintaining a good body rhythm...and even better, no shoulder pain!

Tropical Splash - Overall Thoughts

Ya know, besides the slooooow relay starts and the walls debacle in the 100 back, this was a good meet. Quite promising signs in both the 50 and 100 back, I made progress in the 50 free in comparison to a month prior, successfully checked off the 100 fly, and shockingly swam a decent 50 breast. On the non-swimming part of the equation, I made sure to keep myself well fueled going into and during the meet and it paid off. Unlike in December, I didn't run out of gas, so that was good! The 50 free on the relay was mildly intriguing--historically, when I've swum the individual 50 free at this point of the Nats training cycle in the past, I've been a suited 25.8 or so, dipping to a 24.9 or so at Nats, with my relay splits following a similar trajectory. My 50 free here, correcting for the abysmally slow start, honestly would probably be right in that ballpark.

NCAP Meet

I swam the 200 back with the kids at a meet yesterday. I was there at 6:30 am to coach the 11-12s, then the 13+ kids started at 2:00, and I swam around 6:00 pm. Being on your feet for ~10 hours coaching before swimming a 200 back is...not ideal...but it turned out better than I expected!

I went a 2:26.3, which is about 3.5 seconds faster than when I swam it at roughly the same point of my training cycle last season. For a 2:26 and where I'm at right now, I split it fairly well! 33-36-38-38. I had one major snafu during the race, which was my goggles completely fogging up around the 75 mark. It is an exceptionally dark pool (ceiling lights are dim and at either end of the pool with no lights over the pool and limited underwater lighting in the pool itself), so with my mirrored swedes already being very dark in that pool before fogging up, I effectively swam a 125 of the 200 blind! I did have a bit of peripheral clarity in the goggles and could make out the blur of the lane rope, but that was it. Couldn't see the flags and could barely see the blur of the T on the wall.

I'd warmed up for about a 500 before swimming the 200 and I'm glad I got my stroke count then, cuz that was the only thing that got me through the race! I inadvertently jammed one blind turn and was close on two more blind turns, but the rest of the race was shockingly clean for swimming blind. Didn't play ping pong in the lane, didn't run into the lane rope, nailed my kick counts for all but one turn, and managed to not turn irredeemably too far out or too close to the wall from my stroke counts.

That 2:29 I swam at this approximate point last season turned into a 2:19 at Nats, so with Nats being pushed back two months this season, I'm hoping that extra time in the water will translate into the 2:26 turning into a 2:15 or so. 2:26 was my fastest in season time since 2019 and .2 off of being my fastest in season time since 2017. Back in 2019 I'd gone from a 2:26 in season to a 2:17 at Nats, and looking back at the seasons where I'd trained for the 200 back, there has consistently been a 7-10 second swing between swims at this point of the training cycle and my shaved/tapered time at Nats, so I'm cautiously optimistic about that ballpark 2:15 target time for Nats.

Funnily enough, I was only 1.7 seconds slower at the 100 split than my debacle of a 100 at the Tropical Splash a week prior. Typically that's a roughly 4-5 second gap! If I'd had the normal gap between the 100 and 100 split, the 1:08 would have likely been a 1:05/1:06, which lines up with my contemporary thoughts at TS.

Thoughts from these Meets

With these three meets under my belt, my key takeaways:

• My top end speed is nonexistent across all four strokes, but it *should* come back with targeted speed training in practice closer to Nats in June
• My backstroke is by far the highlight. Rusty, slow in the grand scheme of things, and I'd like to increase my kick count by 1-2 kicks off all the walls which means a lot of very sucky underwater training over the next few months, but it's the best feeling of the four strokes and comparatively the fastest across the board.
• Freestyle is an open question, as is my ability to actually *race* a 100 fly instead of cruise it

Looking Forward

My main focus in training over the remaining 5 months till Nats in Indy is going to be backstroke. The 2017-2018 season was the last time I trained backstroke as a primary stroke, so I'm intrigued to see how things have changed in the past 6 years. Beyond back, I want to train enough fly and free to be able to put up a solid 100 fly and 100/200 free, but my primary focus is going to be back.

Looking at the event lineup for Nats in June in Indy, there are four days of racing (for me, there are five days total including the 1000/1650 day...which I'm certainly not going to do). As of right now, the 50/100/200 back are the only events on my schedule for sure. Other potential events would be the 50/100/200 free, 100 fly, and 100/200 IM. Given the six event limitation for Nats, I'm obviously not going to be able to do them all, but those are my options right now.

Taking a look at the currently posted meets on the various meet calendars, there are three masters meets and one NCAP meet that I can race at between February-April, with likely one to two more masters meets being added to the list. Between those 4-6 meets, I want to swim all of my potential events at least once, with my likely event lineup at each meet being one of the backstroke events + one or two of the others so I can knock out the whole list and see where things stack up.

If there are any meets in April-June that aren't on the calendar yet, I want to try out the 200 fly and 400 IM. I'm definitely not going to swim either at Nats, but it's been several years since I swam either and I  just want to see where I'm at.

All in all, I'm pretty pumped right now! I'm making good progress in the pool, my backstroke is showing signs of life after being dormant for a few years, and I've got a solid ~5 months to train, iron out kinks, and do all that fun stuff before Nats.