Team USA….Assemble!

Well Nationals is done and over with as of last night.  My 1500 went pretty well, I ended up 2nd.  I was hoping to go a few seconds faster but overall it was a solid swim.  Now, the focus is on Pan Pacs in 10 days so the training continues…

Last night after the session I got a chance to grab some food with my family and former club coach, Jeff Cooper.  I hadn’t seen Jeff in a few months so that was nice to catch up in person.  Even though Jeff doesn’t coach me directly anymore, I still keep in good touch with him.  He definitely laid the ground work for me to be swimming at age 26 but it’s his friendship that I value most.  Good luck to the Oakland Live Y’ers who will be competing at Juniors out here this week!

Today we had a relay camp and then checked into the team hotel.  I spent most of the day at the hotel but later in the afternoon I ended up taking a trip down to Newport beach with Jack Roach, who works for USA Swimming, and teammate Aaron Peirsol.  We spent a few good hours body surfing hanging out at the beach.  Aaron grew up out here and knows the lay of the land very well.  He was also kind enough to give me some good body surfing tips.  I definitely got tossed a few times in the surf, but hey, that’s part of the fun.  It’s always nice to hit the beach with Aaron because he definitely has a passion for the ocean.  More info on that here.  Jack also has a ton of experience in the waves so teaming up with them is always a good time.  Just being out there today gave me a good opportunity to clear my head and get ready for the final push the next two weeks.

Tomorrow is mostly a training day but if anything interesting happens I’ll be sure to write about it!