Meet report - Nova Scotia Masters Provincials in Halifax.
I had a good meet this weekend, considering I'm still fat and slow. I wasn't expecting much after training for only 5 weeks or so. At least I have a benchmark to improve upon for next season.
Nova Scotia provincials was a really low key event. I was sitting in the stands with my lovely fiancee for the afternoon, hanging out with a small team from Cape Breton (a group of islands on the northern end of NS). Highlights of the meet for me were the pair of septogenerians who also happened to be the sole entrants in the 400IM, and a youngish lady with cerebral palsy who entered the 200free, 400 free and 800 free. It was inspiring to see them.
As for how I did, it was about in line with what I expected, if not what I had hoped for. I made WAG's for all my seed times, considering that I hadn't swum in a meet since 1993, but at the same time I didn't want to enter as NT, just in case there were multiple heats. First up was the 200IM. I felt surprisingly good in that, and managed to swim a 2:36.69, 4 seconds under my seed time. Out in a 1:10, had a stellar (for me) breastroke leg (48 flat!!) and then died a horrible death in the last 50. My lack of actual fitness really caught up to me, but I still managed to win that one (AG and overall)!! Found out later on that I was about a half second off the NS masters 40-44 record there. Next year!!
Next was the 200 free. This event used to be one of my better ones, so I entered a *slightly* optomistic seed time of 2:10. Well, that one did NOT live up to what I was hoping there. I completely tightened up, seemingly forgot how to swim, and died a really horrible death. First half was slow - 1:07, and the second half was even slower, limping home in 2:21.90. Won my AG, 3rd overall, but NOT what I was hoping for.
About 8 minutes later I was up for the 50 fly. I entered in a seed time of 32.0, but I still felt pretty winded. I was fairly confident that I could beat my entry time, considering that I went out easy in the 200IM and split a 32.6 for the fly leg. 30.10 seconds later, it was done. Won my AG and overall, and found out later that I had tied the NS Masters record for my AG.
After a bit of a break, it was time for the 50 free. This was never a strong event for me, so I decided to just treat it like a warmup for the 100. Had a good start, dolphin kicks off the start were good and I was starting to feel more comfortable off the blocks. hit the turn, pushed off and my feet went sideways, so I had to surface early to get going again. Crap. Finished 5th overall, 1st in AG in 27.81, but I lost at least a second on that missed turn.
Last was the 100 free. Didn't have to save anything for any other events (not that I swam like I was saving anything anyway). I took this one out hard from the gun, and tried to get at least 10m on each turn underwater dolphin kick. Thanks to this strategy, I led through the 50, but then the lack of fitness caught up and the piano fell at the 75m mark. Finished 3rd OA (1st AG) in a 1:01.13.
Pizza was served for all the competitors afterwards, I thanked the volunteers and organizers for putting on a really fun event. Next year I hope to show up to this event in shape!
Swimming Workout of the Day: Favourite Swim Sets: 2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly