Tbh, that was one of the easiest swims of my career! I even had a moment of panic that I'd somehow cut the course! I was prepared for a challenging, painful swim on the gas the entire time, like some of my best 70.3 swims. I was surprised that the pace settled down right away and I comfortably stayed on Gambles and Yoder's feet before dolphin diving around them at the end. The surges I'd expected never came and our small pack was pretty friendly.

I hadn't been swimming particularly well in this block, but I've learned that swim fitness is easily hidden under a mountain of fatigue and returns after a good taper. I also owe a lot to Craig Taylor's program with Guelph Triathlon Project. He's not trying to reinvent the wheel, but his program reflects careful planning and a deep understanding of swimming. He has a great track record developing top swimmers. I'm one of the slowest guys in the group including some ITU swim studs. We also regularly do quality open water work with mass starts and buoys—basically race simulations—which was a missing piece of the puzzle for me in the past and helped develop my open water skill set.

I'm still not particularly confident in my ability to consistently make front pack. So far this year, I've been 3rd out of the water (70.3 Taiwan), well back/2nd pack (70.3 Monterrey & Texas), 3rd out (70.3 Victoria & Eagleman), and now 2nd out (IMMT). Past seasons were far more erratic, especially in rough conditions. I may still struggle in chop or with a bigger and faster front pack in championship races.

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