WOW! What an amazing nine-days of swimming we just had! I watched the first 4 days at home. But last Wednesday, I was in the stands watching it LIVE! From what I saw on TV it looked like the venue (Lucas Oil Stadium) was decked out. But in person, it was so much more incredible! The atmosphere was one of a kind, and it was so cool to see that much hype for our sport!
As I mentioned in a previous blog, I went with a group of teenagers from 3 different club teams in Northeast Florida! I got to make a new friend (shout out to Head Coach Carrie, from Flagler Fluid), a fellow Ohioan and we found we knew a lot of the same people. I also go to see some swimmers that I coached who are now college coaches and had athletes at trials.
I was able to do a goal check-in talk with the swimmers on the trip to make sure they were on track for their long course season goals, if they needed to adjust their goals, and also list what they needed to do to achieve these goals.
We stayed in the dorms which were double the size of what I remember from college, and each had their own bathroom, so it was a unique experience and was a learning experience for the swimmers to see what college would be like. Also, we ate several meals in the dining hall, which was edible but I was ready to come home to my own cooking afterwards!
It is hard to pinpoint my favorite highlight, but some of them are:
The double swim-off for men's 50 free final. Two men tied for 8th, swam a swim off, tied AGAIN, and had to have another swim off.
Gretchen Walsh WORLD RECORD on the first night of finals (I was not there for that, but it was awesome!)
Simone Manuel WINNING the 50 free (I was not there for this one either)
Our Jax local, Caleb Dressel winning the 100 fly (and seeing fellow Bolles swimmer, Ryan Murphey be competitive in something other than backstroke)
Shane Casas emotional response to making the US Olympic team in the 200 IM.
I can not wait until 2028 Trials, and the Olympics in LA!
*Pic from my seats one of the nights!
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