6 August 2022
I recall reading a story about how Italian swimmer Thomas Ceccon reached the top of the World Championships podiums last month with essentially a dryland only warmup. Reflecting on the longer warmups (totalling 1,500 yards) I did ahead of my 400 yesterday and the close-to-zero warmup before my 200 back (150 yards), and the better result in the 200 back, I decided today to only do my normal dynamic stretching / activation routine on land and then a 250 yard warmup (50 dolphin kick, 50 double arm backstroke, 50 breaststroke, then 2 x 25 where I did maybe 5 "spin" strokes free on each lap, 50 easy free). Other than bashing my left shin when exiting the warmup pool, I arrived at the blocks feeling fresh for my 200 IM, and was very happy with the result:
2:31.36 placing me second (behind the Masters World Record holder in this event)
Almost 2.5 seconds better from when I swam this in June (2:33.74)
Better than the 2:35.52 I went back in the summer of 2018
The last time I was faster was in the summer of 2015 when I went 2:30.54
I still think I pushed the fly a bit too hard, so I'll remember that for my 400 IM tomorrow morning.
On a different note, I did spend a little bit of time walking around this wonderful facility, which is run as a non-profit organization focused broadly as a community aquatics resource, "...we serve as a catalyst for water safety, health and fitness, sports tourism, competitive aquatics, and possibility, for all Richmonders."
I particularly love their focus on Learn To Swim programs for young kids ...
I doubt they made that a reality with the pandemic, but trust they've picked back up where they left off. This is inspiring for me as I do hope to spend time in my retirement (which hopefully starts in 4-5 years) actively involved in giving back to the broader aquatics community; if I could find a way to help support water safety in whatever community I live in at the time, it will be a great way to spend my time.