2011 SW Zones Championships - Day Two of Three

My second swim meet this year. I swam two events today (100 Breaststroke and 100 Individual Medley). I didn't swim them as fast as I would have liked, but I'm happy to have been able to swim them.

I swim with such a great group of people. Our coach loves to give everyone nicknames, and today, a couple of swimmers beat him to the punch. One of our gals, Leah, bought a really nice TYR suit that reminded our coach of a leotard (kind of like something a baton twirler would wear). It took a couple of minutes, but two guys started calling her "Leahtard" -- and just like that, a nickname was born. Chris, our youngest swimmer, has the nickname Sugarfree and approved Leah's new suit. Our coach, Jonny, then documented this fact by literally writing a huge checkmark on Leah's leg with a ballpoint pen, with the designation "Sugarfree aproved". Here's photographic proof.

I ended up with a new nickname, Double-D, aptly provided by Ms. Leahtard, but don't get the wrong idea -- it's because my initials are DD, not because of my cup size. ;)

There were a lot of fast swims, but our men did a great job on their 400 Free relay, with Sugarfree bringing it home for the win! SugarPop posted a nice video on the SDM Facebook (or Bookface as Jonny likes to call it) page. http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1330328795720&oid=205358622811730&comments

Tomorrow brings another day of swimming and tons more fun I'm sure.

Chillin' with Cheryl

Ah, it's a beautiful Spring day in Arizona. Spent almost the entire day with my beautiful daughter, Cheryl. We took a break in the backyard between our outings and she snapped a couple of pics.

It's Official!

I swam in my first meet since high school a couple of weeks ago, and am now in the offical USMS database. :)

The funny thing is, I'm ranked #44 for the 50 Breaststroke in my age group. Not bad, considering this was my first swim meet in 40 years. I think I know which stroke is my strongest. In order to get into the Top 10, I need to better my time by a tad more than 5 seconds. I've got a nice goal to work on now. :)

Ryan Lochte -- He gives swimming a good name

What a great guy. I would love for him to visit my Masters team. :)

Swimmers Up!!!!

Well, it's official. I competed in my first meet in 40 years this past Sunday -- and it was totally awesome!!!! Of course, I had to pull a "noob" trick and ended up totally missing my first event, but I won't repeat that mistake. My other two events went off without a hitch and I swam much faster than I thought I could/would. :)
I've caught the racing fever and am already signed up for the next event that takes place April 1, and with the encouragement of some USMS Forumites, I signed up for three events at Spring Nationals. Woo-hoo!

Gratuitous Post

LOL! I've been so busy swimming with my fellow Sun Devil Masters, that I haven't had time to blog. I guess that's a good thing, right?

Happy New Year!

I started the New Year by joining about 60 other swimmers at the Mesa Aquatic Club for a New Year's Day tradition. We had our choice of swimming one hundred 100s, 50s, or 25s or any variation. I swam with a group who were swimming fifty 50 meter lengths of the pool. I ended up swimming 56 -- 1 for each year I've been alive. I got the idea from another swimmer whose birthday it was today (he turned 51 and did 51 50s). I'm thinking I may turn this into my own New Year's tradition.

Another tradition for me on New Year's Day, is to go for a drive. We've had some pretty wintery weather in the Valley of the Sun and the mountains were nicely dusted with snow. The first picture shows the Queen Creek Tunnel just outside Superior on Highway 60. I know, there's no snow, but I've always wanted to get a picture of this tunnel.

I took this picture of Four Peaks just south of Saquaro Lake. The dusting of snow reminds me of powdered sugar. Click the picture for a larger view that shows off the snowy peaks.