Issue 2
~
Page 1
~
Monday, May 14, 2007
PACIFIC NORTHWEST ASSOCIATION OF MASTERS SWIMMERS
TRAVEL DAY
“I’m a leaving on a jet plane, I don’t know when
I’ll be back again.”, although you probably do
know when you will be back again.
you look at it. However far away you are, we
honor you for making the trek to Seattle, especially those of you from the Bahamas!
Many of the long distance swimmers are likely
traveling on Tuesday. The rest of the swimmers
are likely boarding their planes on Wednesday.
Whenever your planned departure is we hope
you have good travels.
Hopefully as you travel you will have some time
to read a few of the articles included in this
newsletter. You have already prepared physically. With the caveat of “Always listen to your
coach first”, there is some good advice contained in this newsletter to help you prepare
mentally as well.
On the next page you can see a map showing
the spread of those competing in this years Nationals. With this years’ Nationals in the top left
corner of the US, some of you are traveling a lot
farther than others. For some of us it is a four
mile drive. For you East Coast-ers, it is a much
longer trip. If you are from Russia, Peru, Scotland or other destinations from far off, you
probably don’t care, it is a long trip either way
A RACE LIKE NO OTHER
Reprinted from March 2007 Federal Way Kings
Newsletter (edited for space):
Gregg Metzler, a swimmer from Federal Way Masters, recounts his own Nationals experience:
PNA hosted long course nationals in 2001 and
the only things I qualified for were janitorial duties and the cannon ball event. Yet, I still entered the meet and had a great time. Let me
just briefly describe for you how I even came
about entering the event and the end result.
One month before the swim meet I decided this
And unless the weatherman is wrong, it looks
from below that we won’t quite be able to hold
the rain off. That’s okay, you’ll be spending your
time indoors anyway. Certainly a little rain won’t
stop people that dive in cold water every morning before most people get out of bed.
by Gregg Metzler
is just like any other swim meet, only bigger, so I
entered. I mean if I am going to get beat it
might as well be by the fastest. In fact just before the start of the 50 fly event, the announcer
said, “Ladies and Gentlemen, please keep your
eyes on lane 3, he’s an Olympic gold metal winner!” I got off my starting block to look and noticed hey, that’s not my lane number! So of
course I was not going to look left and make
eye contact. I wanted the dude to know I was
ready and not intimidated by him or any of the
other 7 swimmers standing on the blocks.
(Continued on page 5)
Issue 2
~
Page 2
~
Monday, May 14, 2007
PACIFIC NORTHWEST ASSOCIATION OF MASTERS SWIMMERS
WHERE WE ARE COMING FROM...
“This land
is your
land, this
land is my
land”
412
2
101
2
1
11
23
2
27
1
39
13
5
41
5
293
41
70
8
17
8
9
7
4
14
23
6
16
5
28
6
20
40
8
11
54
1
3
1
2
13
41
11
~
9
OTHER
COUNTRIES
Bahamas: 4
Canada: 9
Mexico: 2
Netherlands: 1
Russia: 2
Scotland: 1
WHAT'S IN A NAME? FIND OUT AT THE SOUVENIR STAND
We know you have found Nemo, and you have
Freed Willy. Shamu was awesome, but there’s
a new whale in town. He’s a killer dude that
comes complete with commemorative mini-
“Name me
and take
me home”
medal of the 2007 Nationals. He also has a
sidekick, mini-me of course. The problem is, he
doesn’t have a name. If you can come up with a
name that the judges might like, turn it in at the
souvenirs stand with your name and address,
and the winning name will get to go home with a
new friend.
But don’t wait to win one, come to the souvenir
booth and buy him, or his sidekick, mini-me. We
are the place for great 2007 Nationals commemorative gear. T-Shirts, hats, sweats, you
name it, we’ve got it. And we are the only place
you can get the ultimate, the killer whale, soon
to be named, mascot of the meet.
ME and MINI-ME are waiting for you at Souvenirs!
Issue 2
~
Page 3
~
Monday, May 14, 2007
PACIFIC NORTHWEST ASSOCIATION OF MASTERS SWIMMERS
RACE STRATEGIES
Check
www.fwnation
als.com
often for
info and
updates
Most swimmers will tell you a good race is better “felt then telt”. Without creating too much for you
to think about, you may want to consider these race strategies at Nationals:
Keep these definitions in mind:
Even Split - Each fraction of the race, after the dive, is swum at an equal speed (most common method used for races from
100 - 200 yards/meters). The effort on the 3rd segment of the race must be greater than the other segments to maintain an
even pace.
Negative Split - Second half of the race is swum faster than the first half.
Build or Descend - Each fraction of the race is swum slightly faster than the previous (mostly used in distance events).
Distance
Breathing Pattern Pace
BUTTERFLY
50 yards
2 down – 1 up
Fast
100 yards
1 down – 1 up Build 1st 50, 3rd length fast.
(every
o t h e r last length use legs.
stroke)
200 yards
1 down – 1 up
1st 100 long and smooth,
3rd 50 strong build
last 50 as fast as possible.
Starts: Tight streamline and fast dolphin kick to surface. Do not breathe on the first stroke!!!
Turns: Touch with 2 hands, arms fully extended, tight knees to chest, throw head straight back, answer the telephone. Tight streamline ~fast dolphin kick to surface. Do not breathe the first stroke.
Accelerate inside the flags.
Finishes: Do not breathe inside the flags. Accelerate and charge the wall. Always touch wall with two
hands and your arms fully extended. Reach for the wall. Do not take an extra stroke on your finish.
BACKSTROKE
50 yards
Fast
100 yards
Strong; build 1st 50, 3rd length fast,
increase arm and leg tempo on last 25
200 yards
Build 1st 100, kick increases on 3rd 50,
last 50 same as 2nd & 3rd 50s.
(After the first 50. the race should be even split)
Starts: Tight streamline. 4 dolphin kicks then flutter. Strong breakout stroke - 1 arm only, breakout
with your nose.
Turns: Accelerate inside the flags. Know where you are in relation to the wall by using the flags. Tight
streamline, 4 dolphin kicks then flutter. Strong breakout stroke – 1 arm only.
Finishes: Accelerate inside the flags. Know where you are in relation to the wall by using the flags.
Last stroke: head goes back and kick (either dolphin or flutter). Reach and continue kicking until
hand is on the wall.
Continued on next page ...
Issue 2
~
Page 4
~
Monday, May 14, 2007
PACIFIC NORTHWEST ASSOCIATION OF MASTERS SWIMMERS
RACE STRATEGIES, Continued
Distance
Pace
BREASTSTROKE
50 yards
Fast
100 yards
Build 1st 50, 3rd length fast, last 25 keep hand moving fast
200 yards
Build 1st 100 (long and smooth), 3rd 50 fast,
last 50 finish kick and keep hands moving fast.
Starts: Use 'feel' for the timing of the pullout. Keep head down, in streamline, until hands pass face
on pullout recovery.
Turns: Accelerate inside the flags heading into the turn. Touch with 2 hands, arms fully extended,
tight knees to chest, throw head straight back, answer the telephone. Tight streamline and 'feel' for
the timing of the pullout.
Finishes: Accelerate inside the flags. Stretch for the wall, fully extended - don’t take an extra stroke.
FREESTYLE
50 yards
Fast
100 yards
Kick increases on 3rd length, last length as fast as 2nd & 3rd 25s. (After 1st 25,
the race should be even split)
200 yards
Kick increases on 3rd 50, last 50 same as 2nd & 3rd 50s.
(After 1st 50, the race should be even split)
500 /
1000 / 1650
yards
Negative split (second half faster than the first) or descended (each fraction of the
race gets faster).
Starts: Tight streamline. Keep head down, in streamline, until you finish the first stroke. 5 strokes
before breathing - minimum (on races 200 yards/meters and down; for longer races start breathing
immediately).
Turns: Accelerate inside the flags. Tight streamline and kick off wall, at least past the flags. Keep
head down, in streamline, until you finish the first stroke. 2 strokes before breathing - minimum.
Finishes: Inside the flags, accelerate and don’t breathe inside the flags. Roll on your side and reach
for the wall, arm fully extended. Do not lift head.
INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY
100 yards
Breathe 1 down - 1 up in the fly, long and smooth. Build your backstroke.
For a faster pace on breaststroke - stretch & streamline, do NOT pull harder!
Finish strong in freestyle - the same time as your butterfly. Good transitional turns
and streamlines (past flags). Do not breathe inside the flags at the finish.
200 yards
Breathe 1 up, 1 down in butterfly. BUILD the 1st length and RACE the 2nd length
of each stroke!!! Remember - accelerate in and out of all turns. Good transitional
turns - tight streamlines off all walls. Stick to your breathing patterns and do not
breathe inside the flags on the freestyle finish.
400 yards
Breathe 1 up, 1 down butterfly. Keep fly long and smooth. All other strokes
should be negative split (2nd 50 faster than the first). 1st and last l00s should be
even. Remember - accelerate in and out of all turns (most important part of a 400
IM). Good transitional turns - tight streamlines off all walls. RACE home on freestyle. No breathing inside the flags on the freestyle finish.
Issue 2
~
Page 5
~
Monday, May 14, 2007
PACIFIC NORTHWEST ASSOCIATION OF MASTERS SWIMMERS
A RACE LIKE NO OTHER, Continued
(Continued from page 1)
“A great
race is like
a fish story.
It gets better with
every re
re-telling.”
~
Even when the official made me take my fins off,
I kept my cool. I stood on top of my perch, the
starting block of lane 6. Twitching and fidgeting
with my goggles and shoulder strap of my suit to
get everything right. I soaked in every minute.
The crowd yelling and cheering for lane 3 and
Coach Wendy yelling for lane 6. The smell of
Ben Gay mixed with chlorine seeped through my
nose plug and made me wish I would have
washed my hands. I had my swim cap pulled
slightly over my goggles so when I hit the water
with my full body velocity – probably rated at
about mach 7 – my goggles would stay in my
eye sockets.
The official announced “Swimmers take your
mark”. My feet were now warm so I took my
socks off and prepared for lightening speed.
One more glance at the crowd then over to the
pool deck. Coach Wendy was there along with
many other teammates wishing me well. That
felt good knowing lane 6 had support as well
and it gave me a spark of motivation.
I took my wallet out of my back pocket and gave
it to the timer to hold and lowered my head for
the start. “BAM!” Man I was fast off that block.
The water felt refreshing as I powered through it.
Getting the most out of each stroke, concentrating on rhythm. Then the turn, I know I had the
fastest turn, I could feel it. I again concentrated
on body position and streamlining off the wall.
The final stretch, I could taste my tofu ham-
“Friends CHECK - IN
Date
don’t let Thurs, May 17
Thurs, May 17
friends
Fri, May 18
miss
Sat, May 19
check
check--in” Sun, May 20
Event
1000 Free
1650 Free
400 IM
500 Free Women
500 Free Men
burger and Little Debbie sandwich cookie I had
just eaten minutes before my event and I told
myself I could have more if I just kept up the
pace.
I didn’t need to use my peripheral vision to see if
any swimmers were behind me because I could
see all their feet in front of me. To me that was
a challenge. I kicked harder and when I touched
the wall I had one of my fastest times ever for
the 50 fly. A personal best and the feeling of
giving it all during that event was my reward.
After the race I went over and shook hands with
the Olympic dude and congratulated him on his
win. I told him I was right on his heels and if it
would have been a 100, I would have reeled him
in.
When I was looking at the results wall he was
there too and began questioning my story “I
thought you said . . . .” Does it really matter? I
mean just to have the opportunity to compete at
this level is exciting and inspiring to want to improve swim times. If nothing else I made him
look good and added points to our swim team,
plus I had a great time!
Editor’s Note: Do you have a story to tell?
Email it to [email protected] and we
may be able to tell everyone at the meet
about your adventure!
Check-in OPENS
Tuesday - 7:00 am
Tuesday - 7:00 am
Wednesday - 7:00am
Thursday - 7:00 am
Friday - 7:00 am
Check-in CLOSES
Thursday - 7:00 am
Thursday - 9:00 am
Friday - 7:00 am
Saturday - 11:00 am
Sunday - 11:00 am
Issue 2
~
Page 6
~
Monday, May 14, 2007
PACIFIC NORTHWEST ASSOCIATION OF MASTERS SWIMMERS
ESTIMATED TIME LINE
This Time
Line is only
a guide for
swimmers,
the actual
events may
start before
or after the
estimated
time.
~
The 1650s
are likely
to be
ahead of
the posted
timeline
due to
scratches
in the
1000.
This estimated time line is only a guide for swimmers for use in determining our best guess as to the start of
events. Depending on how quickly swimmers exit the pool following events, scratches on distance events,
number of relay entrants, and delays in the meet, we may be ahead of the estimate or behind the estimate. It
is the responsibility of all entrants to get to the pool well before their event and to be behind the blocks before
their event starts. Note: The 1650s are likely to be ahead of the posted timeline due to scratches in the 1000.
Event
Entries Heats
Starts at
All Days start at 08:00 AM
Heat Interval: 45 Seconds / Back +15 Seconds
1 Men 1000 Freestyle
91
12
08:00 AM _______ Thursday, May 17
2 Women 1000 Freestyle
65
9
09:29 AM _______
3 Men 1650 Freestyle
94
12
10:55 AM _______
4 Women 1650 Freestyle
80
10
01:32 PM _______ Finish Time 03:55 PM
5 Men 100 Butterfly
23
31
08:00 AM _______
Friday, May 18
6 Women 100 Butterfly
118
16
08:31 AM _______
7 Men 50 Breaststroke
236
31
08:50 AM _______
8 Women 50 Breaststroke
179
25
09:12 AM _______
9 Men 100 Backstroke
175
24
09:33 AM _______
10 Women 100 Backstroke
152
21
10:01 AM _______
11 Men 200 Freestyle
305
39
10:30 AM _______
12 Women 200 Freestyle
211
28
11:36 AM _______
13 Mixed 200 Medley Relay 0
16
12:30 PM _______
15 Men 200 Freestyle Relay
0
12
01:02 PM _______
16 Women 200 Freestyle Relay 0
10
01:26 PM _______
17 Men 400 IM
147
19
01:46 PM _______
18 Women 400 IM
101
13
02:34 PM _______ Finish Time 03:30 PM
19 Men 100 IM
326
42
08:00 AM _______
20 Women 100 IM
282
36
08:42 AM _______ Saturday, May 19
21 Men 200 Butterfly
116
16
09:21 AM _______
22 Women 200 Butterfly
81
12
09:55 AM _______
23 Men 50 Backstroke
180
26
10:23 AM _______
24 Women 50 Backstroke
177
24
10:44 AM _______
25 Men 100 Freestyle
400
51
11:06 AM _______
26 Women 100 Freestyle
270
35
11:53 AM _______
27 Men 200 Breaststroke
181
25
12:31 PM _______
28 Women 200 Breaststroke
137
20
01:21 PM _______
Ransom Arthur Award Presentation
02:05 PM _______
29 Men 200 Medley Relay
0
12
02:15 PM _______
30 Women 200 Medley Relay 0
10
02:40 PM _______
32 Women 500 Freestyle
157
20
03:00 PM _______ Finish Time 04:20 PM
33 Men 200 Backstroke
136
19
08:00 AM _______
Sunday, May 20
34 Women 200 Backstroke
108
15
08:42 AM _______
35 Men 50 Freestyle
363
46
09:16 AM _______
36 Women 50 Freestyle
274
36
09:44 AM _______
37 Men 200 IM
170
23
10:09 AM _______
38 Women 200 IM
147
20
10:53 AM _______
39 Men 50 Butterfly
251
34
11:32 AM _______
40 Women 50 Butterfly
192
25
11:54 AM _______
41 Men 100 Breaststroke
220
30
12:12 PM _______
42 Women 100 Breaststroke
175
24
12:44 PM _______
43 Mixed 200 Freestyle Relay 0
16
01:13 PM _______
45 Men 500 Freestyle
201
26
01:45 PM _______ Finish Time 03:46 PM
Issue 2
~
Page 7
~
Monday, May 14, 2007
PACIFIC NORTHWEST ASSOCIATION OF MASTERS SWIMMERS
CELEBRATING OUR AGE, SATURDAY NIGHT SOCIAL
Come to
the Social
and get
your
“Elvis ON!”
~
There is still space available for our “Celebrating Our Age” social on Saturday, May 19, at 6:00 PM at
the Social Hall at the north end of the Aquatic Center. You can buy tickets at the Registration table
in the lobby up until 12:00 PM on Friday, the 18th.
A local Federal Way Restaurant, Gino’s Bistro is providing us with a delicious banquet of King
Salmon, mixed green salad, peasant bread with sun dried tomato butter spread, penne pasta with
marinara sauce, and a decadent chocolate dessert, plus your choice of beer, wine, soft drinks and
coffee. And on top of that you will be entertained by and can dance to Steve Adams and his band
Kentucky Rain. Steve is an Elvis impersonator and he does a very fine tribute to “The King”. This
delightful evening is all yours for $35.00, including tax and tip. You can’t beat that at any class restaurant and this is brought right to you. Plus buses will run late to the hotels this evening.
♦
♦
♦
Experience
Pacific
Northwest
cuisine
without
leaving the
Aquatic
Center
♦
♦
Dining:
Mixed Greens with a balsamic vinaigrette
Peasant Bread with sundried tomato butter spread
Penne pasta with marinara sauce topped with pine nuts & parmesan
cheese
Blackened King Salmon with an orange-honey-grand marnier glaze
Molten Chocolate Souffle/Tiramisu
Dancing:
The evenings entertainment for your listening and dancing
pleasure will be:
STEVE ADAMS & KENTUCKY RAIN
~
“Thank ya’
very
much…”
Steve is an Elvis impersonator and he does a very fine tribute to “THE KING”