The Showdown has come. Everything we worked for these past months. I was feeling good in the water, but deep down was a little bit nervous and really thought Marc had one up on me. His workouts have been incredible, and I knew his freestyle was ahead of mine. 200 IM. A race where its 50 yards of each stroke. Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Freestyle. A mini-decathlon if you may.
We both had our visions on how it would fold out. Both very similiar except for the final 50/75 yards. Brian out first at the 50, maybe by a 1/2 second. Brian extends to a 1 to 1.5 seconds on back. Then Marc powers home on the breast. But this is where both Marc and I differ in our vision of the race. For me, I hold him off by a second going into the freestyle, and then barely hang on in the end. For Marc, he catches me in the breast and never looks back. Marc's goal is 2:07, maybe 2:06, but he'd be happy with 2:08. Brian's goal, satisfied if under 2:10, happy under 2:08, anything else on cloud 9.
Drew and I get there early to the meet as he is doing the 500 free. I find out earlier, that not only is Marc, his awesome wife Elaine and their adorable children coming to cheer him on, but also her suedo-family - of mom, dad, sister and sister's boyfriend. Marc has his own cheering section. This group is so pumped up, they arrive with pom-poms AND all wearing white t-shirts with pictures of Marc on them, saying "Go Marc", or "Go Daddy". This applies more pressure to both myself AND Marc.
Event #1 - Marc's 200 free
This will show me where Marc is. I didn't enter the 200 free, but was stoked to see what Marc would bust out. He's got me on free right now, and knowing he wasn't going to go all out, I was thinking he'd bust out a 1:57. Sure enough, 1:57. He hurt his neck diving off the blocks and said that after a while he just backed off. I think he was beginning to feel the pressure.
Event #2 - THE REMATCH - 200 IM
We warmed up and I was feeling good. Marc was shaved down, and I had my fastskin swim suit on. My fly was feeling good. His breast looked strong. I was placed in lane 3, Marc in lane 6. In between us were two really fast guys. That was good actually, because with them out in the lead we were visible to each other.
As the starter called us to the blocks our mini crowd was going wild. Long Beach Grunions all crowded behind my lane cheering me on. To my left, the Giulianotti Clan, with their matching t-shirts getting Marc pumped up. "This is it", I though, as butterflies finally flew through my body in excitement.
"Swimmers take your mark..... BEEP". As always, I got off the blocks fast and was even with my friend Brian who was in lane 4. My butterfly was feeling great, and oddly I was somewhat close to him at the 25. I pushed off and was still going strong, but suddenly got the fear that I was taking this race out too hard. I touched at the 50 mark at 26.77. YIKES!! I think Marc was out in 28 low. That meant I was farther ahead of him that we both had planned. Had I known that I would have freaked even more. As I pushed off for backstroke though, deep down I knew I had applied just a tad too much. Instead of my first few strokes of backstroke being focused on technique and kicking, all I could think about was that I went out too fast. 4 seconds later though, I had moved on. This is where I need to distance myself from Marc. The first 100 yards are MY 100 yards. I own this distance between the two of us, and I needed to make sure he knew that. I came charging in at the 100 mark, turning at 59.0. That placed my 50 back split at 32.3 Oddly enough, I was only maybe 2 seconds behind Brian in lane 4, which confused me. I was either going REALLY fast, or he wasn't going too fast. I knew he was fast though, so this was a good sign. I succeeded in further distancing myself from Marc. He came in around 1:01 something, which meant I had over 2.5 seconds on him. Now the question was, "WAS THAT ENOUGH". The next 100 has belonged to Marc in the past. But little did he and myself know, that my breaststroke was on today. I powered through the water the best I knew how on breast (I'm not that good at it). I came in at the 150 at 1:35.76. That made my breast split 36.76, which was really strong. What made it even more strong was that Marc split right about the same, so my lead stayed the same. I pushed off and looked to my left and saw I had a big lead. But then the pain really started to hurt. My free felt horrible. I started getting nervous. He's going to catch me. I just know it. That lasted for 10 yards until I told myselt to shut up and dig deep. I flipped at the 175 and obviously glanced over at him to see I was extending my lead even more. This created more motivation and I dug down and swam my heart out until BAM... I hit the touchpad. 2:06.69. My jaw dropped. I cam home in 30.93. A nice finish. I was so tired, I wanted to pass out. Marc came in around 2:10, and I knew he'd be fine with that race. It wasn't what he wanted to do, but I think he knew that doing a 2:10 was acceptable. For me though, I swam out of my skin. I used to go those times in high school duel meets, so that was a fun analogy. YES... I WON. I AM THE KING. THE 200 IM KING. SAY IT MARC. SAY IT BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO.
To read his version (I assume he will blog it), go here to see what he has to say. Marc
Thanks to that first event, the rest of my meet pretty much was fantastic.
100 fly - My butterfly was on in the 200 IM, so I was excited for the 100 fly. I was still pretty tired from the 200 IM, but was pumped. I was out in 27.29 (slower than the IM), but I came back in 30.04, for a 57.33. That was a 2 second drop from 2 months ago, and a fantastic time.
100 breast - Another event Marc and I are swimming together. But this was his event. He's the breaststroker. I knew he'd beat me, but not sure by how much. Plus I figured he still might be a little mentally broken down after the 200 IM beating by me :-), that I could ride that wave and see what I could do. We pretty much swam head to head on that event too. We turned even at the 25, I turned just ahead at the 50. Then I started thinking to myself that I should let him win this event since its his birthday and he's the breaststroker. I think I started to back off on that 75. He turned ahead of me, but then I thought, "why do that!!". So I began to pick up the pace and rush how as fast as I can. Marc finished in a strong 1:07.14, and I finished in 1:07.60. For him, I'm not sure how he felt. For me, that was a GREAT time. 3 seconds faster than what I did 2 or 3 years ago. I broke the team record too. How funny is that.
100 IM - Since I was doing some great times for me, I figured I'd go out with a bang on this one. I knew I had 58 in me, and actually thought maybe a 57 high was doable. I was in lane 3, Marc was in lane 5. I took the 25 fly out hard, and felt great. I was right behind the top seed. The back felt great and I still wasn't too far off Mr. Speedy in lane 4. The breaststroke I was feeling the fatigue of the meet, but still felt strong enough to finish. I was over to the left side of the lane hoping for a little draft, which ended up being the downfall of my race. As I turned at the 75 to come home for free, both my feet completely slipped on the wall, LITERALLY stopping me dead in my tracks. I am without a doubt confident I lost 1 maybe even 2 seconds. I had to start from scratch on free. Put it this way. 1) - think of pushing off the wall and sprinting home or 2) - think of being right in front of the wall but instead having your legs to your side and having to gain momentum without the use of the wall. I was pissed!! I rushed home as fast as I could, and finished in 59.99. Damn! That is a great time. So now in the back of my mind all I can think of is that my time would have been a low :58. Oh well. It was still a great meet.
Nice job Marc and thanks for the challenge. Without you, none of my swims would have been as fast as they were today. I have the crown until next year.
We both had our visions on how it would fold out. Both very similiar except for the final 50/75 yards. Brian out first at the 50, maybe by a 1/2 second. Brian extends to a 1 to 1.5 seconds on back. Then Marc powers home on the breast. But this is where both Marc and I differ in our vision of the race. For me, I hold him off by a second going into the freestyle, and then barely hang on in the end. For Marc, he catches me in the breast and never looks back. Marc's goal is 2:07, maybe 2:06, but he'd be happy with 2:08. Brian's goal, satisfied if under 2:10, happy under 2:08, anything else on cloud 9.
Drew and I get there early to the meet as he is doing the 500 free. I find out earlier, that not only is Marc, his awesome wife Elaine and their adorable children coming to cheer him on, but also her suedo-family - of mom, dad, sister and sister's boyfriend. Marc has his own cheering section. This group is so pumped up, they arrive with pom-poms AND all wearing white t-shirts with pictures of Marc on them, saying "Go Marc", or "Go Daddy". This applies more pressure to both myself AND Marc.
Event #1 - Marc's 200 free
This will show me where Marc is. I didn't enter the 200 free, but was stoked to see what Marc would bust out. He's got me on free right now, and knowing he wasn't going to go all out, I was thinking he'd bust out a 1:57. Sure enough, 1:57. He hurt his neck diving off the blocks and said that after a while he just backed off. I think he was beginning to feel the pressure.
Event #2 - THE REMATCH - 200 IM
We warmed up and I was feeling good. Marc was shaved down, and I had my fastskin swim suit on. My fly was feeling good. His breast looked strong. I was placed in lane 3, Marc in lane 6. In between us were two really fast guys. That was good actually, because with them out in the lead we were visible to each other.
As the starter called us to the blocks our mini crowd was going wild. Long Beach Grunions all crowded behind my lane cheering me on. To my left, the Giulianotti Clan, with their matching t-shirts getting Marc pumped up. "This is it", I though, as butterflies finally flew through my body in excitement.
"Swimmers take your mark..... BEEP". As always, I got off the blocks fast and was even with my friend Brian who was in lane 4. My butterfly was feeling great, and oddly I was somewhat close to him at the 25. I pushed off and was still going strong, but suddenly got the fear that I was taking this race out too hard. I touched at the 50 mark at 26.77. YIKES!! I think Marc was out in 28 low. That meant I was farther ahead of him that we both had planned. Had I known that I would have freaked even more. As I pushed off for backstroke though, deep down I knew I had applied just a tad too much. Instead of my first few strokes of backstroke being focused on technique and kicking, all I could think about was that I went out too fast. 4 seconds later though, I had moved on. This is where I need to distance myself from Marc. The first 100 yards are MY 100 yards. I own this distance between the two of us, and I needed to make sure he knew that. I came charging in at the 100 mark, turning at 59.0. That placed my 50 back split at 32.3 Oddly enough, I was only maybe 2 seconds behind Brian in lane 4, which confused me. I was either going REALLY fast, or he wasn't going too fast. I knew he was fast though, so this was a good sign. I succeeded in further distancing myself from Marc. He came in around 1:01 something, which meant I had over 2.5 seconds on him. Now the question was, "WAS THAT ENOUGH". The next 100 has belonged to Marc in the past. But little did he and myself know, that my breaststroke was on today. I powered through the water the best I knew how on breast (I'm not that good at it). I came in at the 150 at 1:35.76. That made my breast split 36.76, which was really strong. What made it even more strong was that Marc split right about the same, so my lead stayed the same. I pushed off and looked to my left and saw I had a big lead. But then the pain really started to hurt. My free felt horrible. I started getting nervous. He's going to catch me. I just know it. That lasted for 10 yards until I told myselt to shut up and dig deep. I flipped at the 175 and obviously glanced over at him to see I was extending my lead even more. This created more motivation and I dug down and swam my heart out until BAM... I hit the touchpad. 2:06.69. My jaw dropped. I cam home in 30.93. A nice finish. I was so tired, I wanted to pass out. Marc came in around 2:10, and I knew he'd be fine with that race. It wasn't what he wanted to do, but I think he knew that doing a 2:10 was acceptable. For me though, I swam out of my skin. I used to go those times in high school duel meets, so that was a fun analogy. YES... I WON. I AM THE KING. THE 200 IM KING. SAY IT MARC. SAY IT BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO.
To read his version (I assume he will blog it), go here to see what he has to say. Marc
Thanks to that first event, the rest of my meet pretty much was fantastic.
100 fly - My butterfly was on in the 200 IM, so I was excited for the 100 fly. I was still pretty tired from the 200 IM, but was pumped. I was out in 27.29 (slower than the IM), but I came back in 30.04, for a 57.33. That was a 2 second drop from 2 months ago, and a fantastic time.
100 breast - Another event Marc and I are swimming together. But this was his event. He's the breaststroker. I knew he'd beat me, but not sure by how much. Plus I figured he still might be a little mentally broken down after the 200 IM beating by me :-), that I could ride that wave and see what I could do. We pretty much swam head to head on that event too. We turned even at the 25, I turned just ahead at the 50. Then I started thinking to myself that I should let him win this event since its his birthday and he's the breaststroker. I think I started to back off on that 75. He turned ahead of me, but then I thought, "why do that!!". So I began to pick up the pace and rush how as fast as I can. Marc finished in a strong 1:07.14, and I finished in 1:07.60. For him, I'm not sure how he felt. For me, that was a GREAT time. 3 seconds faster than what I did 2 or 3 years ago. I broke the team record too. How funny is that.
100 IM - Since I was doing some great times for me, I figured I'd go out with a bang on this one. I knew I had 58 in me, and actually thought maybe a 57 high was doable. I was in lane 3, Marc was in lane 5. I took the 25 fly out hard, and felt great. I was right behind the top seed. The back felt great and I still wasn't too far off Mr. Speedy in lane 4. The breaststroke I was feeling the fatigue of the meet, but still felt strong enough to finish. I was over to the left side of the lane hoping for a little draft, which ended up being the downfall of my race. As I turned at the 75 to come home for free, both my feet completely slipped on the wall, LITERALLY stopping me dead in my tracks. I am without a doubt confident I lost 1 maybe even 2 seconds. I had to start from scratch on free. Put it this way. 1) - think of pushing off the wall and sprinting home or 2) - think of being right in front of the wall but instead having your legs to your side and having to gain momentum without the use of the wall. I was pissed!! I rushed home as fast as I could, and finished in 59.99. Damn! That is a great time. So now in the back of my mind all I can think of is that my time would have been a low :58. Oh well. It was still a great meet.
Nice job Marc and thanks for the challenge. Without you, none of my swims would have been as fast as they were today. I have the crown until next year.
1 comment:
Swim Geek King,
You deserve the crown. You swam OUT OF YOUR MIND. I know that much, and I have zero experience in these meets. Nicely done. Maybe next year for the rematch? Maybe in Florida somewhere??? Ha, ha.
btw, loved the Spiderman suit.
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